Mikepércs: Black-Necked Grebe

I feared that it would be overcast this morning, but the sky at dawn is clear. My hide has been swept again by the wind, fortunately not too far. It seems that the four sticks can't hold in the april winds, so I'm going to anchor it.
The photography starts with the little grebes:

Little Grebe

At last the couple is together, but I'm afraid, they don't pose:

Little Grebe

A bit later the ducks come:

Garganey (male)

Shoveler (male)

Nothing gets close for a long time, then I see a little grebe in the distance. However something is strange with it ... it's bigger than the others. I bring it into focus ... it's eyes are red! Wow! It's a black-necked one! I wish it came closer! It's behaving like a decent grebe, it ducks now and then under the water for several seconds then comes up. On one occasion it pops up quite close, it's peering at the hide:

Black-Necked Grebe

The ducks are there too, ...:

Shoveler (male)

Shoveler (male)

... some of them in pair:

Ferruginous Ducks

Gadwalls

The coot nearby tidies its territory from time to time, it bundles off all the "intruders":

Coot

Soon a couple of ferruginous ducks gives the theme:

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Ferruginous Duck (female)

Ferruginous Duck (female)

I've never seen such a thing: the male turns on his back and it's preening this way:

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Meanwhile the black-necked grebe roams the whole pond and after some time it gets nearby again:

Black-Necked Grebe

The gadwalls are closing too:

Gadwall (male)

Gadwall (male)

Ferruginous Duck (female)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Eventually the black-necked grebe pops up really close:

Black-Necked Grebe

How beautiful ear tufts it's got!
This is what I've been waiting for! Perhaps next time we'll meet again.

Mikepércs: Ducks

I'm having a try today again, hoping that the birds have already got used to the hide.

The sun is already rising when a couple of mallards are swimming in front of me. They are searching for food under the water:

Mallards

Meanwhile the garganeys, the teals and the shovelers appear in the distance. Three shovelers are closing, two male and a female. Here's one of the males:

Shoveler (male)

Then a mallard starts to preen nearby:

Mallard (female)

The garganeys are coming closer as well, ducking under the water regularly:

Garganey (male)

The little grebes are calling each other from time to time:

Little Grebe

Shoveler (male)

The garganeys are quite close:

Garganey (male)

Garganey (male)

Shoveler (male)

Mallard (male)

One of the shovelers comes really close to my greatest pleasure:

Shoveler (male)

Shoveler (male)

Meanwhile a pochard lands nearby, but leaves soon. I couldn't take a good shot of it. However a couple of ferruginous ducks appear, they don't dig only their heads under the water, but they are diving. I'm trying to catch the moment of ducking:

Ferruginous Duck (male)

There's not much difference between the male and the female:

Ferruginous Duck (female)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

Ferruginous Duck (male)

In the end a female mallard lands:

Mallard (female)

Mikepércs: Shovelers

I didn't intend to photograph today but it appeared to be good lights in the morning, so I decided to visit the pond.
I bundle a few coots and ducks with my arrival, but I get into my hide quickly and start watching. Nothing happens for long, but later the coots start to come out slowly from the narrow reed strip. However they don't come close enough. I still record the threatening pose of a bird:

Coot

A pair of shovelers appear again, I think they are the same birds that I saw last time, they are floating to the place they were resting last week. This time they are a bit closer as I moved the hide a few meters forward last time:

Shoveler (male)

They are resting for a long time, and when I suddenly hear the buzzing sound of an engine, they take off suddenly to land just in front of my hide! I miss their landing, but I try hard to get the most of the situation:

Shoveler (female)

Shoveler (male)

They make a semicircle then float back to their resting place:

Shoveler (male)

Without them I wouldn't have been successful today, so I decide to move my hide near the opposite bank trying to make use of the morning backlights next time. I just can't wait ...

Mikepércs: At The Pond

Two weeks ago I took my hide to the pond, where I found a place where there's still some water. But there were many birds, as I observed earlier, especially coots, little grebes, ducks and a couple of swans.

It was getting light when I arrived at the pond, so all the birds disappeared with noise when they caught sight of me. Soon after I had got into the hide a loud swishing noise caught my attention: two mute swans were flying away in front of me. It's incredible what a noise these large birds can make with their wings when flying. 

Slowly the birds reappeared, first the coots then the little grebes and the ducks. As long as the coots kept the distance from the hide, the grebes came close sometimes. And so did a couple of garganeys.

Soon a shoveler came closer too:

Shoveler (male)

The gargeneys sometimes were really close:

Garganey (female)

Garganey (male)

Little Grebe

The coots however kept the distance:

Coot

Garganey (male)

Garganeys

Little Grebe

The coots were raising the devil with each other continuously, but not nearby, I'm afraid.