After a great spring for Black-necked Grebe (see here and here), what are the chances of a breeding plumaged Slavonian Grebe turning up in the county as well? A fabulous bird was found this morning by Dai Johns. It was early afternoon by the time I got there, the light was harsh and I had two children in tow, but the Slavonian Grebe was present, feeding a little way out from south west shore of F2 and showed superbly:
The golden ear tufts stand out at distance, looking fine against the black head and chestnut neck. When we arrived the head plumage was dry, the bird had not dived for a little while. When the bird turned downwind, the ear tufts puffed out:
But as we watched, the bird began diving and swimming, getting closer with each dive: 
Soon it was wet and very close. Slavonian Grebe shares the red eye, with white-ringed black iris, with Black-necked Grebe. Unlike Black-necked Grebe, Slavonian have a pale tip to the bill in summer: 
These were dream views of Slavonian Grebe, it was an absolute stunner! 
The bird remained feeding close to the shore, until a fisherman went down to the shoreline to pack up his gear, whereupon it flew, landing slightly further out but still in the south-west corner of F2. We also bumped into this Ringed Plover:
What a great spring for stunning grebes in Oxfordshire. First this… 
…and then this!