Bright Eyes

Well just in case you are wondering, the title of this post does not relate to the famous song written by Mike Batt (of Wombles fame) and performed by Art Garfunkel, and which was used as the theme for the film adaptation of Watership Down. It is about the star of the post, the beautiful Goldeneye. Actually the song Bright Eyes might be better connected to the duck as the lyrics talk about floating on the tide and "bright eyes, burning like fire" which doesn't really apply to rabbits, anyway I digress.

In January a pair of Goldeneye had been spotted on the marine Lake at West Kirby and although I could see them I could not photograph them as they stayed too far out on the lake for me to get a decent shot. At Martin Mere however there are a couple of pairs on one of the ponds and over two visits I managed to get a few shots.

On my most recent visit I was having a chat with one of my sons who expressed his opinion that geese tended to be more interesting and better looking than ducks. I disagreed with this and pointed out a smew which was immediately on hand and also referred him to the Goldeneye which by any assessment is a stunning looking bird.

The male with his bold black and white plumage and vivid yellow eyes is amazing, and even the female which is more understated is still quite beautiful.

They are a diving duck and will disappear beneath the surface in their hunt for food. They have wide tails which you can see in the fourth picture is used to propel them under the water as they dive.

In the final three images I was unsure whether the male was simply taking a drink of water or whether he was displaying to the female (it is spring after all), given that he repeated this action several times I suspect he was showing off.

Looking at those shots I also noticed the ripples in the background which could have easily featured in one of my recent posts, but the focus at the moment is definitely on the wildlife. I have lots more shots of birds from Martin Mere that I will be sharing soon so keep your eyes peeled for my next post.