Goosander Spooks Coot

Glad we went out this morning as it has rained all afternoon.

It was quite misty as we set off but that cleared and it became a bit brighter. Ollie dog enjoyed the undulating, skinny path through the woods to Ashley Pit and we both loved the rickety-rackety boardwalk that took us to a little reed-fringed island in the lake. I got shots of a male goosander, our quarry, from here but the aspect was wrong. We circled the pit checking out all the fishing platforms for a better view of the birds without much success.

My brother-in-law used to have a Flying Dutchman dinghy called Merganser, I didn't realise that goosander is the same bird. I've added an image to extras in which the very sharp sawbill can be seen.