Drake Smew at Fishers Green, Essex. 19th January 2022

The local SE Herts RSPB Group were having their monthly Wednesday walk at Fishers Green and it coincided with the recent arrival of a Drake Smew on Seventy Acres Lake. There has also been at least one Redhead Smew there as well. Things started well with distant sightings of a female Goosander on the flood relief channel. One of the usual suspects was soon spotted.

Walking down towards Fishers Green Lane the light was good for both Black-headed Gulls and a pair of Great Crested Grebes that were already starting to pair up.

Half way round the lake we had our first view of Smew. This was a Redhead and fairly distant, and also looking into the light. Just a record shot of this one.

However not much further on we saw the drake Smew out in the open and in much better light. Photographing a black and white bird against a dark background is tricky and I had to underexpose to retain highlight detail. Difficult, but I think the shots have come out quite well.

What an amazing and beautiful bird!