2 For 1 At Astbury Mere - 1 February 2013

One bird in the sky got me two on the water today.... I had been keeping an eye on reports of a Slavonian Grebe for a couple of days, but waited nervously until this morning. I chose today because I was taking my sister to Manchester airport and Astbury Mere is just 18 miles south of there.

I eventually arrived at the mere shortly before midday, hoping - I had been too busy to check reports - that the Slav was still there. It was, I guessed from the number of long lenses I spotted as I parked up. It was not hard to find either, as it patrolled an area in front of the near bank and looking no more than a feathery dot amongst a mixture of Pochard, Wigeon and Tufted Ducks. Occasionally it suffered a severe bullying from a couple of Great Crested Grebes and so, in trying its best to avoid them, it spent a lot of time isolated in open water directly in front of me and giving fantastic views.

The Slavonian Grebe had also been joined by a drake Scaup which had arrived early morning and was an easy spot amongst the Tufted's and Pochard, the two birds that it is often confused with.

Well worth the trip and now added to my radar.

 Slavonian Grebe at Astbury Mere

And a bonus drake Scaup