There was a stillness to the Settling Beds this afternoon. Gone are the big flocks of winter waterfowl, and the reedbed has not yet awoken to the rhythms of the Sedge and Reed Warblers. In hte distance a pair of Grebes greet each other like statues, and their calls echo across the calm water.
A gentle gold and terracotta pattern is reflected along the margin, and suddenly these colours are captured in the form of a stranger. A female Goldeneye has arrived and feeds in the shallow water, its' progress mapped by a flurry of tiny bubbles as it dives for crustaceans. It will soon be on some Northern loch or flow, but for now it seems to fit here.
