Worth Another Look.....GND at Fleetwood

I returned to Fleetwood yesterday for another look at the Great Northern Diver which over the last couple of weeks or so has become a local tourist attraction as many photographers and birdwatchers have visited the town for a close up look at this uncommon visitor. I arrived on a beautifully sunny morning following a hard overnight frost to find that thankfully the bird was still feeding and performing on the Marine Lake.
It doesn't seemed bothered by the presence of people or by the frequent activity of the Nautical College launching a type of lifeboat quite close to the bird. It was therefore possible to get quite close at times and with the bright and sunny conditions it was to be perfect for some good images of the action
What was special on this visit was to see the diver catch a flounder which for the next ten minutes or so it tried to swallow. It seemed to have difficulty holding onto it's slippery prey which almost escaped but eventually it did manage to swallow the fish. This protracted action gave me some excellent opportunities to capture the action on camera and I was well pleased with the results.
 The Great Northern Diver has been on the Marine Lake since November 7th, well into it's third week and has provided some wonderful views and images for many of Lancashire's birdwatchers and photographers. I also managed a few shots of the very handsome and colourful red breasted merganser which was performing on the nearby boating pool. I later visited some high tide wader roosts further down the coast at Rossall and this will be the subject of my next posting. Meantime I hope my readers enjoy my account and images of a super session at Fleetwood Marine Lake.