A juvenile great northern diver has been at Farmoor reservoir for several weeks now, but I have been unsuccessful in finding it - until today. It was rather overcast and a bit chilly but the wind had died down so I drove over to the reservoir with the aim of walking round the larger of the two reservoirs where it has usually been seen. On arrival I spoke to someone who said they had not seen it despite being at the reservoir for the past two hours or so and had already walked around F2. Nevertheless I felt sure it must be there somewhere, as it had been recorded most days. It has a tendency to dive for quite a while so it is possible to overlook it as you walk past. It takes about an hour to get round the reservoir but the visibility is quite good across the water especially if fairly calm which it was today. About two thirds of the way round, having scanned for anything that might be interesting, I noticed a lone shape right out in the centre of the reservoir and on checking through my binoculars realised that it was in fact the Great Northern diver. Occasionally it dived and I realised how easy it would be to miss if you were not constantly scanning the water.
Other birds seen were cormorants, shelduck ( an unusual sighting on the reservoir) tufted ducks and mallard. There were no waders apart from a single oyster catcher which again is quite unusual. I also saw several great crested and little grebes.
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