Great northern diver is classified in the county as a "rare winter visitor" but to have the 27th and 28th records for the county on the same day is still quite something!

It was the construction of the QMR which is credited with the increase in records for the diver since the 1980s so it is fitting that one of the birds was at  QMR - albeit visiting from Staines reservoir; the other was on the county's other great stretch of water, Theale main pit

Many locals would have made the trip along the M4 to be able to say that they'd seen two GNDs in the county on the same day!

December is the most likely month to see this diver in the county (February for the other two "common" divers)

The most recent twitchable one was on a small anglers' pit in the Twyford complex. It survived an ever decreasing noose of ice until it disappeared on the morning of January 2nd, 2002 ... presumed dead

Previous entry

Gavia immer, December 6th 2006