Black-throated Diver out on the sea in Torbay.

Last Sunday I had enjoyed a great morning on the Dart Princess out of Paignton hunting down wintering Divers in the family "gaviidae" We had seen and photographed Great Northern and although we saw Black-throated, the photos I took of this species then were not so good because the one specimen we had seen remained quite distant. I was hoping to get better this week and so it proved. However, the weather was nothing short of appalling today. There a very low layer of cloud with constant drizzle and haze making photography very difficult to say the least. We had made our way in to the bay and it was a while before we actually caught sight of any divers but then in the distance and close to the Mussel farm  off Churston , 3 birds were seen. We made our way towards them and then cut the engines and drifted nearer. It was a very unusual sight to see and to then have the chance to photograph three birds together like this was a great privilege. They were quite relaxed before they eventually moved off and this was the best opportunity for a good photo, well it would have been if it had been brighter. The skipper commented something about us being lucky and I said its funny, the more effort I put in, the luckier I get, (that old cliche), remembering how wet and miserable it was and the early start etc! Sometimes you feel like you deserve to have some luck. As you can see, it certainly was a magnificent sight. In actual fact I had the chance to get much better shots than these but due to the appalling light, the swell and sway of the boat and vibration from the engines many of the pictures were blurred. Other birds seen were Gannets, a few nice Kittiwake, Fulmar and Black-necked Grebe as well as Purple Sandpiper (on Brixham Breakwater) and numerous Grey Heron.