I haven't been up to the reservoir in quite some time so, I decided today, Monday 22nd was the day, late in the day too for me. I didn't get up there until 10:30 and there were a few cars in the car park, the more cars, the more walkers, the fewer birds ......... sometimes ;)
Lots of Common Gulls around and a few Oystercatchers on the grass bank along with the usual Chaffinch throng scattered everywhere :)
I didn't actually take any shots at all until I spotted a couple of birds on the water up ahead which got me using the Nikon P950, long zoom to get a shot I could zoom in on and see what they were. That shot really wasn't worth sharing but, it did show me what I thought they might be so, I carried on up the road with the aim of getting closer to get better shots.
Distant Diver
I could now tell that they were Divers, I'd never seen two together on the reservoir and I couldn't yet tell which type they were so onward for closer shots, hoping they didn't disappear as often happens.
They were actually swimming towards the old boathouse which meant I could get down to the shore easily and maybe.....
Black-throated Diver
When I got to the boathouse path, I stopped to check if they were still around before making my way closer, we all know, the closer you get, the more chance they'll be off! There are a lot of trees and low shrubs on that path which helped my progress I think.
I worked my way down the path, using the bushes and getting shots whenever I could, fully expecting them to fly off.
Black-throated Diver
Definitely Black-throated Divers. I was now down at the boathouse and they were still there, just offshore! And there's a pair of them!
I have never been this close to such beautiful birds and they didn't seem phased by my presence at all, although they did start to swim away from me slowly.
This is their full breeding plumage so who knows? They may even nest up here!!!
There was no panic at any time, so calm, almost unaware I was there.
Time to go
I got one random shot as one of the birds re-appeared from under the water.
Emergent
So I finally walked away and left them heading down the reservoir and towards the other side.
