Great Crested Grebe new parents

[cjf2]

A few recent pictures of a pair of Great Crested Grebes that have four recently hatched chicks and still some eggs being brooded in a public lake in central England

• NIKON CORPORATION - NIKON D850
• 500.0 mm f/5.6
• 700.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/2500 sec
• Pattern
• Manual exposure
• -1.7
• ISO 1400

A lot of energy is expended to catch a small flying insect to catch it for its smallest chick after failing to get it to eat a too large fish!

• NIKON CORPORATION - NIKON D850
• 500.0 mm f/5.6
• 700.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/1600 sec
• Pattern
• Manual exposure
• -1.3
• ISO 720

After changing places on the nest an adult shakes and stretches after a period of inactivity

• NIKON CORPORATION - NIKON D850
• 500.0 mm f/5.6
• 700.0 mm
• ƒ/13
• 1/2000 sec
• Pattern
• Manual exposure
• -1.7
• ISO 1250

Four young chicks and still 5 egg shells visible on the nest at adult changeover time. It looks like the two whiter egg shells may be the shells from which two chicks have hatched. I've only seen pairs with 2 or 3 chicks later in the season as clearly not all make it to adulthood.

• NIKON CORPORATION - NIKON D850
• 500.0 mm f/5.6
• 700.0 mm
• ƒ/10
• 1/2500 sec
• Pattern
• Manual exposure
• -1.7
• ISO 1100

After a spirited chase across the surface an adult comes to a stop leaving pleasing water patterns.

 

[PentUp]

Wow, cj, these are really good. I especially like the first one.

 

[cjf2]

Wow, cj, these are really good. I especially like the first one.

Thanks. At first I was not certain what all the commotion was about as there wasn’t another bird for it to be chasing. Then it went straight back to the nest and offered something to its very small chick. When I zoomed in I could see its tiny prey about to be caught. A lot of energy expended for a snack that was tiny even for a chick. You get this species in Oz and I recall seeing it near Perth and in NZ. You have a different sub species so maybe they’ll split it off as a full species one day.
It floats around in the middle of lakes for most of the year occasionally diving for fish but in the spring there’s lots of interest with courtship and carrying and feeding young.

 

[PentUp]

Thanks. At first I was not certain what all the commotion was about as there wasn’t another bird for it to be chasing. Then it went straight back to the nest and offered something to its very small chick. When I zoomed in I could see its tiny prey about to be caught. A lot of energy expended for a snack that was tiny even for a chick. You get this species in Oz and I recall seeing it near Perth and in NZ. You have a different sub species so maybe they’ll split it off as a full species one day.
It floats around in the middle of lakes for most of the year occasionally diving for fish but in the spring there’s lots of interest with courtship and carrying and feeding young.

That’s right cj, we get the Great Crested Grebe, along with the Australasian Grebe, here in WA. Mostly seen in lakes.