Posted by Robert Thompson on December 20, 2006 at 00:29:27 from 80.177.174.120 user robert.
Was it or wasn't it?
Will we see it again tomorrow?
The excitement today on Coniston was a Great Northern Diver - or was it? Unfortunately the distinctive black-white throat stripes don't appear in winter plumage, but my bird-watching colleague is 80 per cent certain that it was a Great Northern. We saw it from a distance and (of course) none of us had a camera. Its appearance could have spanned the whole twelve Swallows and Amazons books, as we saw it about 100 yards from the field up which Roger tacked!
For those in the US and Canada for whom a "loon" is commonplace - apologies for our apparent over-enthusiasm!