I had the day off yesterday and used half of it to catch up on some sleep, only getting up a little before 1pm. I had to look twice when I saw a report of a Red-necked Grebe at Richmond Park as I checked the news to see what was about. Remembering Pen Ponds is included in my local area listing zone, I headed straight up there (from my Brighton digs). The Red-necked Grebe showed spectacularly well on Upper Pen Pond, floating around, I guess, only thirty or forty yards away. Other people told me it had been at the receiving end of some aggressive Great Crested Grebes earlier and had even been forced onto the other pond but, all the time that I was watching it, it was left in peace and made for part of a tranquil autumn scene at the pond. There were also four Mandarins, three Red-crested Pochards and around forty Wigeons present alongside other common wildfowl while a Red Deer bellowed away.
