Red-throated Diver (rather on the white side)

With all those bird-miles burnt up on the way to Norfolk we're having to keep our weekend forrays closer afield for the remainder of the month. Fortunately a nearby opportunity for a lifer was there for the taking. First reports of this Red-throated Diver on a lake near Clumber Park came in two weeks ago, so it's become bit of a stayer, best bird in the county for a while too, and #191 for my life list. Don't get many of them this far inland in England.
The Diver was a real beauty, showing very well for the hour we spent there. To the eye it looked a very elegant bird, moreso than a camera could capture, and those eyes, black-eyes, like shark eyes, seemed to give the bird even more character.





Plenty came to see it. This pull-in is a well-known local raptor watchpoint, formerly famous for Honey Buzzard. Not sure they are seen so often these days though, possibly discouraged by the recent explosion in Common Buzzard numbers which have already made Heron so nervous they've abandoned a nearby colony.





A few thumbnails of the day's other birds...














Small numbers of Mandarin hang around the feeding station, probably a nascient 'wild' population ready to grow rather than escape









And finally...

Video - Red-throated Diver