Unexpected visitor

I caught a conversation on my Twitter feed between a couple of local bird watchers. A red-throated diver had been seen on Fairhaven Lake, which is a manmade lake just behind the seawall on the north side of the Ribble Estuary. It picks up a wide variety of rarities, belying its suburban location and use as a park by locals (it's not really a nature reserve, though the RSPB has a presence there - the nearby mudflats, salt marshes, and dunes are also full of birds). Once I'd established it was on the lake, rather than the sea, I decided to go down the next day.

This species is found regularly offshore here, but almost never close to the land. This was the best opportunity I could have hoped for - it was very tame, first floating and preening, then moving to sheltered waters to dive and feed. It would resurface unpredictably, sometimes right in front of the long lenses of photographers camped on the bank (who rather comically ran round the shore as it moved about). The light was better than forecast - grey cloud broke intermittently, and the sun was low and not too contrasty. I left happy.

I wasn't expecting any special birds this month, partly due to an ongoing mobility problem, and partly as it's a bit of a slack month, before the main spring migrations begin. So this was a real treat.