Was reading-up on ferox for the ongoing brownie thread and spotted an interesting piece...
Said that while nesting black-throated divers tend to feed on freshwater fish, red-throated divers, though they breed on freshwater, tend to fly off to the sea to feed, thus bringing biomass back from the sea to nutrient-poorer freshwater habitats. Same idea as salmon feeding at sea and then dying after spawning and bequeathing their body mass to the spot their offspring need the nutrients from to start the next generation.
Not sure if there is anything in it for the R-TDs? Maybe their chicks start to feed on freshwater fish before migrating away?
Anyhoo - big-up the R-TD!
Good excuse to keep things ticking over by digging into the back catalogue for pics of red-throated divers...
Loch Fada, South Uist...
Loch of Harray, Orkney...
Col