Goldeneye

"The name's Bond, Jill Bond."

No, not the film featuring 007, but another resident on the Forth and Clyde Canal spotted on Monday's walk. In truth, I can't recall seeing a goldeneye on the Canal before, but my cousin who lives two miles to the east says that he has seen them, so don't know what that says about me!

Much of Sunday's ice has melted and there is still much slush and water about. One of the fields I pass on my way to the Canal is still an ice-sheet (see extra) but I expect that will become a pond before too long.

I was also a little surprised that much of the Canal was still frozen on the surface (again I don't think that state of affairs will last too long) but along at Lock 19 near Haggs there was a veritable aquatic party in full flow, with mallards, goosanders, a cormorant, a goldeneye all splashing and preening. A heron flew overhead at one point and decided to seek a less busy spot to rest.

I needed a bit of help with the bird id. My first reaction was that it was a tufted duck, but ruled that out quite quickly (not least because of the absence of a tuft) and went through a list of possibles before resorting to social media for help. I had also ruled out a goldeneye, but was steered in that direction and further investigation led me to accept that it was a female of that species.