Back to see the Red-necked Grebe - 23rd January 2011

 The plan was to head up to Lytham to try and get some better photographs of the Red-necked Grebe that seems to be enjoying the delights of Fairhaven Lake of late. On the way up I called in at Preston Docks to see the over wintering juvenile Iceland Gull but a quick scan over the water revealed nothing. So back in the car and off up to Lytham where I bumped into Robin who'd had the same idea as me. A quick look over the fence and the Grebe was easy to pick out as it dived for food. We headed down to the lakes edge and watched it diving and feeding often being mobbed by other birds as it fed.

ABOVE AND BELOW WINTER PLUMAGE RED-NECKED GREBE

As well as the Grebe Coot, Mallard, and Tufted Duck frequented the lake as well as various gulls and a pair of Merganser. The Merganser seemed to spend most of their time diving and were often surrounded by oppertunistic junvenile Herring Gulls looking for an easy meal.

MERGANSER ABOVE MALE BELOW MALE & FEMALE

Next was a quick trip to Lytham Cemetery to see the resident Ring-necked Parakeet. I often see them when I'm down in London but have never had chence to photograph them before and the 6 birds that were present were more than happy to hang around to be photographed.

RING-NECKED PARAKEET

On the way home we decided to call back in at Preston Docks and see if the Iceland Gull was back. After a five minute scan and a long look at a juvenile Herring Gull it finally turned up on the water amongst c50 Black-headed Gull. Unlike previous visits to see the bird when it seemed to keep itself to iteself on this visit it seemed to be quite aggressive often using bullying tactics to obtain a quick meal from other Gulls.

ABOVE AND BELOW JUVENILE ICELAND GULL @ PRESTON DOCKS