Tuesday being still sunny and very warm, I drove over to Farmoor Reservoir for a short walk along the causeway and around F1, the smaller of the two reservoirs.
Approaching the causeway I quickly spotted a dragonfly on the slipway, which when it eventually settled turned out to be a male black tailed skimmer.
At the end of the causeway I stopped to look at the sectioned off area where there are a number of nesting rafts, currently occupied by a mixture of black headed gulls and coots.
In that part of the reservoir were further mallards, and black headed gulls, also a another brood of ducklings, which I noticed were not a mallard, but a gadwall family. There was also a rather lonely looking smaller duck, which after a while I decided must be the recently recorded male garganey in its eclipse plumage. I hadn't realised that garganeys were quite so small, but rather thought they would be approaching a mallard size. I suppose I have not seen any close up before.
The walk around F1 produced several more mallards, some with broods of ducklings and the odd tufted duck and great crested grebe. I also came across an army of greylags, stopped as if on parade which I found quite amusing to look at!
black tailed skimmer
gadwall and ducklings
gadwall
coot and chick
greylags standing to attentioin
er get up , you're on parade!
garganey
blackheaded gull chick
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