Finally, on Thursday, we had a break in the almost constant procession of wet and windy weather that made miserable many of my winter walks in December. To make the most of this, I caught the train to north Cardiff and enjoyed a wonderful walk around the recently reopened Llanishen and Lisvane Reservoirs, through the still muddy Nant Fawr woodland, and on down to Roath Park Lake. The highlight for me of this walk was getting relatively close views of the Great northern diver (Gavia immer) (what my American viewers would call a Common loon) that has been overwintering in Llanishen Reservoir. The bird was still some distance from me so my photos don’t do justice to how beautifully patterned this bird is but it was a pleasure to watch its constant diving.