There have been some good birds at Abberton this winter, but some have remained distant and in particular I am talking about the Smew, Long-tailed Duck and the even more elusive Scaup. Well, after a successful morning at East Mersea, a call in to Abberton finished off a great day.
Goldeneye do sometimes show quite closely, but this winter it has been mainly a particularly tame female, but today a stunning male was also being obliging...............
..................and one more of the female.
We have seen Smew a number of times, but they have always been a little too distant or into bad light. However today a redhead was feeding alongside the reed-bed by the Layer Breton causeway allowing some decent shots at last.
Back at the Layer-de-la-Haye causeway the three Long-tailed Ducks have been present for most of the winter, but have normally been way out in front of the tern raft. On our last visit on the 25th February they were a lot closer, but today they were right in giving some better opportunities.
But the biggest success by far was the female Scaup. Like the Long-tailed Ducks, there have been a few Scaup around this winter, but on our visits have always been miles out and I am not sure that I have even managed to get a record shot. However today a single female was asleep in the large flock of Great Crested Grebes and woke up a few times for some photos.
Wow, managed it at last. Probably won't be back at Abberton now until the spring migrants arrive in a months time.
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