It was some rain yesterday, and it should be sunshine this morning. I expect some haze above the water as there is no wind. I get to the pond early, it's still dark.
With the first lights a female mallard appears, taking its way towards the log I placed there last time. It steps up on it and starts to preen:
Mallard (female)
Then ferruginous ducks are coming, one of the males bundles off the mallard, he needs this nice place too:
Ferruginous Duck (male)
Pochards turn up as well:
Pochard (male)
Pochard (male)
Pochard (male)
Suddenly I can hear the known cries of the red-necked grebes! Wow! They are here! I catch sight of one of them in the backlight:
Red-necked Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
Red-necked Grebe
The haze has disappeared quite quickly, a pochard settles on the log again, ...:
Pochard (male)
... but not for a long time as whiskered terns are coming bundling him off:
Whiskered Tern
Several minutes later they fly away so the preening place is the ducks' again:
Ferruginous Duck (male)
Ferruginous Duck (male)
Pochard (male)
A gadwall turns up too getting to the log ...:
Gadwall (female)
... not allowing to get anyone else nearby:
Gadwall (female)
Later it's getting tired of it and gets away, ...:
Gadwall (female)
... handing over the place to the pochards which are falling out with each other:
Pochard (male)
Pochard (male)
Pochard (male)
A strange looking duck turns up, it looks like a mix of a ferruginous duck and a pochard:
The red-necked grebe appears again but it doesn't gorge the frogs as it did several weeks before:
Red-necked Grebe
In the end a whiskered tern lands to preen:
