"Lovely little Red head" SMEW on Connaught Water

Whilst waiting for the supermarket to open this morning I had a cheeky little walk around Connaught Waters in the middle of Epping Forest. A frosty start had frozen almost all of the lake pushing most of the birds to the few areas that had survived the sub zero temperatures of last night. Amongst the Mallards and Coots were good numbers of Teal and Tufted Duck along with a few Mandarins and Pochards. Shovelers hid under the branches of trees on the islands. Mute Swans, Canada and Greylag geese were present before I located a single male Pintail which never really came out of the shade for the camera. In the centre of the lake a nice pair of Goosander swam along before flying off to find a more suitable place to feed for the day. A Kingfisher flashed past before I noticed a splendid Red headed Smew which did occasionally come within range of my lens. A cracking little winter duck and a joy to watch for an hour or so this morning.

Smew

Smew

Smew

Smew

Smew

Smew

Tufted Duck, Goosanders, Pintail and Coot

Note to self: Visit Connaught Waters more!