Great Northern Diver

At Stanwick GP on 11th November and uncharacteristically short-staying. They are not annual but November is the peak month for arrivals in the county and this one’s a bit special on two counts. Firstly it’s a first for Stanwick, which appears never to have been visited by any species of diver before. Secondly, it’s an adult.

Pretty plain upperparts without all those neatly pale-fringed feathers.  Nearly all those which visit the county are juvenile/first-winters and they frequently linger on into the winter, with Pitsford Reservoir producing 53% of the records over the past 30 years.

This one did a moonlight flit. Where is it now? Bizarrely, a juvenile was discovered today on Mary’s Lake at Earls Barton GP. These two will be about the 42nd and 43rd records for the county.