Stockers Lake Rickmansworth - A Grey Day's Sightings

A visit to an overcast Stockers Lake Rickmansworth with poor light did not stop me from taking a few photos. 

 

An emerging coot from a dive to collect weed.  I love the way the water bulges as the coot surfaces.

A wintering male Goldeneye, one of my favourite ducks at about a 50 yards.  I am waiting for one to get closer.



 

Part of a small flock of Lapwing.

 

A Brown Rat in the reeds at the water's edge.

 

A restful Grey Heron.

RSPB Rye Meads - Coot Diving Behaviour

More from RSPB Rye Meads Nature Reserve.

 

Coots are common and present many opportunities for photos, but despite this they are difficult to photograph with the contrast between the black feathers and white frontal shield and bill, with the dark red eye often being lost in the dark head.  Whilst sitting in a hide as the day clouded over I spent several minutes watching a coot repeatedly diving for weed on the lake bottom, and decided to have a go at trying to capture the dive and the return to the surface.  Results were a bit mixed, but with a little help from Photoshop, I managed to record this behaviour.

 

A dive producing an interesting pattern in the water.

 

Bobbing up to the surface with the water on its back....

 

.....running back onto its back like a silvery coat almost immediately.

 

Another interesting shape from the water as the coot emerges.

From all my many attempts to catch a coot face on, apart from the middle photos above, the coot managed to avoid facing me!