I realise that when it comes to drawing birds I can't use my usual slow and measured approach, where I carefully observe and record every interlocking shape of a subject. There simply isn't time; I've got to try and get the overall shape before the bird moves but it's so awkward drawing through binoculars.

I try to retain an image and get that down on paper but I can't capture everything I see. Mapping the pattern on the head of the young great-crested grebe didn't seem to be working; it's giving a rather wooden effect, as if I was drawing a decoy duck.

Switching to the coots, (lower left), dabbling close to the hide I was able to dispense with the binoculars and work more quickly. I felt that the quick little sketches were beginning to hint at the continuous activity of a real live bird. I'd like to do more of this but I think that I'd do better going somewhere people feed the ducks, where I can sit on a bench and draw, rather than observing through the slit of a bird hide.