Red-necked Grebe Chard Res

I have a real soft spot for the winter Grebes, so an inland Red-necked not all that far away proved too tempting to resist. Late this morning I found myself crossing the border heading to Chard Reservoir where Dave Helliar had found a Red-necked Grebe on 25th Nov. Apparently this bird represents only the second record of Red-necked for the Res, following the first way back in 1978!

As soon as I arrived I picked it up where it spends most of its time, loafing with the large spread out flock of Great Crested Grebes in the north arm of the Res...

But on two occasions I was lucky enough to watch it swim in close to the east shore of the north arm to fish...

Amazing. Absolutely amazing. Thanks to the Grebe, it really was smiles all around for this little off-patch jaunt...

Thanks Dave!