Marston Lake Bird Activity

          The sun was out and it was warm for late January, so a short drive to the nearby Marston Lake seemed like a good idea, since with no wind, the other lake at Brogborough would not be likely to be hosting windsurfers (the clue is in the name!) and Stewartby mainly hosts powerboats and sailing dinghies, and those two exponents tend to be weekend activities or require a wind.

          On this visit the Camera was the 7D MkII, the lens was the Sigma Sports 60-600mm augmented with the 1.4x Converter, since the birdlife on this lake tend to keep their distance.

          On my last visit I had spotted a lone young Grebe, but on this afternoon, there did appear to be a pair, and later there was a tentative exploratory dalliance,  but it petered out without the ritual offering of weeds. Unlike previous visits where I only spotted two Cormorants, there were at least half a dozen and some did take to the air to search for their prey, but the seemingly choice spot were two clusters of dead trees that seemed to warrant a territorial dispute, but the occasion I witnessed, the two established birds hung on and the attack failed.

          As ever, every so often the Coots would become bellicose and there would be some noisy flapping as one bird would launch an attack on another. From my observations Coots seem bad-tempered fairly frequently, often continuing for several bouts, but on this occasion, this petered out fairly speedily. A pair of Swans glid serenely across the lake fairly aimlessly, and unlike the last visit here, there were fewer gulls, and one Tufted Duck seemed to consider one gull to be on its patch, and made a menacing torpedo-like dart at one, but the gull simply took to the air before settling back on the water, comparatively unfazed.

          Alongside a pair of Tufties a single bird of a different species of duck had attached itself, and it was not simply a female of the species, I took an enlarged image, that I plan to send to my Birding Guru to learn just what bird it is, but if anyone else knows please let me know below in Comments.

          The visit was a pleasant way to relax, and get the feel of the lake, and already I have noted the signs of Spring appearing, though listening to the forecasts, this may be premature, since there are still warnings of snow.