Looking hard, seeing bird steering clear of lake (7)
I believe the answer is:
staring
This clue could be a double definition.
'looking hard seeing bird steering' is the first definition.
'staring' can be an answer for 'looking' (staring is a kind of looking). I'm not sure about the 'hard seeing bird steering' bit.
'clear of lake' is the second definition.
'staring' can be an answer for 'clear' (thesaurus). I'm unsure of the 'of lake' bit.
Can you help me to learn more?
(Other definitions for staring that I've seen before include "Looking fixedly" , "with eyes popping out" , "Gazing long and fixedly at" , "See 11" , "Gawking" .)