Smew at Tophill Low

 For a change I went somewhere other than a few miles from my front door. Although we spent the first few hours at the Mere seeing Velvet Scoter, Scaup and Long-tailed Duck, myself and a couple of friends went over to Tophill Low to hopefully see the drake Smew that's been there for a while.

We got straight onto it and it came as close as it could to the reservoir wall, which was perfect. These were the best views I've had of Smew.

We tried to get some video but as it was feeding at the time this was difficult and very frustrating...as soon as we got the bird in the viewfinder it dived again.

Diving Duck Blues

I managed a bit of video eventually.

There are quite a few fish in the reservoir as evidenced by not only the Smew coming up with one:

Smew with a roach or rudd by the looks of the fish

as above

But also a Great Crested Grebe coming up with another:

Great Crested Grebe with either a roach or a rudd

It rained a bit but we were lucky to be in the hide when it poured down.

Thanks Andy and Nick for your great company and your bonhomie😊👍