Mink

It had been a very uneventful afternoon at Bretton when all of a sudden the Ducks and Geese began to scatter in all directions. I looked up to see if there were any birds of prey around but there were none. So I looked at the water and could just make out something dark, swimming in the wake of a now departed family of Mallard, which I believe were his target.

I've seen the Mink on the banks of the lake but never in it, where it shouldn't really have any chance of catching anything. I suspect the Mallards were swimming very close to the far shore when the Mink decided to launch itself at one of the youngsters.

Unfortunately the far side of the lake is out of the reach of my 500mm lens, even with the 1.4x converter attached. But you can just about make out the head and shoulders of the Mink as he swims after the ducks.

Some of the family decided to take refuge on an abandoned Coot's nest.

Panic over. About 10 minutes later they were swimming around as if nothing had happened.

Then I noticed a Cormorant had arrived. Not sure how easy it is to dry your feathers in the rain though!