Mikepércs: The Skulking Grebes Have Turned Up!

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:

Whiskered Tern

 

Mikepércs: Fog Again

I hoped for some fog for this morning after having some rainy days. However when I got up the stars were shining brightly, only the western part of the sky was cloudy.

So, I had a rest in the hide resigning myself that there won't be any fog this morning. But when I'm looking up after half an hour, I can see quite a thick fog in front of me. Only the birds are yet to come. I don't have to wait long for them, as a couple of garganeys are landing and coming closer, where their legs reach the pond bed:

Garganey (male)

After a some time they leave:

Garganey (male)

Soon stilts and avocets appear. But a lapwing lands too.
As I notice, there are two couples of avocets in the area, they pass in front of the hide several times:

Avocet

Avocet

The redshank couple is in the area as well, one of them comes closer:

Redshank

Black-winged Stilt

Meanwhile I can hear black-headed gulls approaching, they land but can't be seen well because of the fog. And they don't stay long.
Soon a redshank is having a bath nearby, ...:

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

... then it starts preening:

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Redshank

Black-winged Stilt

Meanwhile a few terns arrive.
The stilts stay nearby all time, and I notice that they have a nest in the rare vegetation, as one of them is sitting on it for a while.
Meanwhile a ruff turns up too:

Ruff (female)

Ruff (female)

The terns are flying above the water for quite a long time, ...:

Whiskered Tern

... and picking insects from the surface. I'm trying hard to catch them during this activity, however it's not simple:

Whiskered Tern

Whiskered Tern

I can see the stilts mating again, but this time they are close to the vegetation, so I can't take decent shots of them.

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

Black-winged Stilt

The lapwing lands again, this time accompanied by another one:

Lapwing

As the sun gets higher, the air is clearing, but the dewy cobwebs show how hazy the air was at dawn:

Black-winged Stilt