I looked at my phone at 3.10pm whilst at work, and Birdguides had put out a drake Long-tailed duck on Lapwing Hall pool. My break wasn't until 4.00pm, but after a quick word with my boss, I was off.
I arrived on site in pouring rain and soon picked up the bird happily swimming around in the centre of the pool.
This is the third record of a Long-tailed duck I have seen in the area. The last one was present on Catchpenny Pool from 14/11/2004 until 22/02/05 and was a drake bird, and my first was seen again on Catchpenny Pool on 12/05/1995 and was also a drake.
Another great bird for the area, and nice to see other birders now visiting and hopefully other birds will now be found. Whilst photographing the Long-tailed duck, a party of newly fledged Blue tits visited a reed bed where I was standing.
