Having decided to postphone a trip to Slimbridge till the weather improves, I paid a short visit to Coate Water as I had been shopping nearby. To avoid car parking charges I opted to park in a layby down Broome Manor Lane, which is also near to some bird feeders.
After putting out some seed on the fence posts I waited to see what would arrive. A pair of robins were quickly on the scene followed by great tits and blue tits. A coal tit also popped in for a quick snack. A lady from my U3A birding group stopped to say hello, and as we chatted I spotted a tree creeper on a nearby trunk. She mentioned that she'd seen a mutual acquaintance of ours near the kiosk. photographing something but she didn't know what!
Later I decided to go that way, and see if the black swan was around. I spotted it at the end of log in area of water which separates the footpath from an island, but as I did so I also spotted something else at the other end of the log.. a female goosander preening and completely oblivious to the public walking past on the footpath. Presumably this must have been what was being photographed.
After some 10 minutes preening it slipped silently into e water and made off towards the middle of the main lake. In my experience goosanders are generally shy birds and it is hard to see them close up so I was pleased to get a few photos.
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