Three Lifers For Me at Abberton Reservoir

21st January 2025

The forecast for Abberton was for fog up to 11.00am and then clearing to sunny spells for the rest of the day...............so what could possibly go wrong? Well, I arrived at the Layer Breton causeway and looked for the Pink-footed Goose on the island...............and couldn't see the island, so had to revert to Plan B where I only photographed birds within 30 yards!!!

Layer Breton was very quiet so I drove round to the Layer de la Haye causeway, not bothering to stop at the Wigborough Bay and Billets screens. Up by the sluice it was still very foggy but there were a few birds within the prescribed distance. First up was "Rocky" the Rock Pipit which was doing its best to clear the reservoir bank of all the tasty crustaceans, and because it is photographed so often is extremely tame.

You can normally rely on a rather showy male Goldeneye near the sluice............

................and I think this one recognised me.

Also a female Goldeneye, nowhere as showy as the male, but a lovely blend of pastel colours.

Goosanders are never far away from the sluice as they float around off-shore and then swim in a synchronised manner into the sluice and disappear under the road where they feed on a large shoal of small Perch that shelter in there. They are normally very successful but only saw one Perch caught today.

One of my target birds today was the Black-necked Grebe. Over the last few weeks they have been staying a few hundred yards away from the causeway, but recently have been very close in. Luckily today they were fairly obliging allowing a couple of shots of one bird and then three birds in the same frame.

My second target species was the Slavonian Grebe which, like the Black-necked Grebes, had only recently been seen close inshore and today was just a few yards off the bank.

So what were my three lifers today? Well, the first one was when two more Black-necked Grebes appeared and I was able to get five in one frame, something I've never managed before. There are currently 13 Black-necks on the reservoir but the others were nowhere to be seen.

My second lifer was getting two Slavonian Grebes in the same frame, especially when they were so close in.

And my third lifer? Well this was seeing both Alan and Mike Harris at Abberton for the first time ever. So this was not only a year tick but also a life tick.

Must write that down.