Monday 25 February 2008

Red Throated Diver

There is one major problem with bird watching in winter -- many of the birds look the same without their bright summer colours. This explains why we spent all of breakfast on Saturday morning arguing about the identity of the diver that was swimming around just a few yards from the restaurant window.

After much debate we eventually concluded, based solely on the angle at which it was holding its head and a few white feathers between bill and eyes, that it was in fact a Red Throated Diver and not a Black Throated Diver. It would have been so much easier in summer as (funnily enough) one has a red throat and one has a black throat!

Post a Comment