Hats off to the colourful great crested grebe
I THINK great crested grebes are in my top five birds – they are not just spectacular to look at, their behaviour is fascinating.
I spent a pleasant hour watching a mummy grebe feed a youngster, probably about four months old, at our Brockholes nature reserve in Lancashire recently.
Mum was also teaching baby grebe to dive and hunt for its own food but, just to make sure her offspring wasn’t too hungry, she sailed off to the bank of the lake and brought back a food-filled plant.
I managed to capture this on my phone and the video is being wellreceived on our Facebook page if you get a chance see it.
This behaviour is repeated for different reasons during the mating season in spring, the courtship display involves the male fetching a pond plant to woo the female.
It’s just like men giving flowers to women, which reminds me, I must grab some roses for Julie on the way home.
During the courtship they rise up out of the water and make you gasp with delight.
It was wonderful to watch the young grebe learning its first lessons in life from an attentive parent. Both birds dived under the water and it is great trying to work out just where they are going to reappear. I am always yards out and by the time I focus in again with my camera they are gone again. The adult grebe is about the size of a mallard, with a wonderful plume on its head and an orange ruff around its neck. It has white cheeks and neck, a dark cap and a dark body.
I did call the chick spotty, but it is more stripey. It has a dark body and black-and-white striped head. In the early part of its life it is carried around on the back of the adult.
In the 19th Century we nearly lost all our great crested grebes when they were hunted for their crests, which ladies wore on their hats. What a wonderful reason for wiping out a species of beautiful birds. Oh fashion, your history will stain you forever.
The Bird Atlas reports groups of more than 100 off Formby and 60 close to Blackpool, getting together to keep warm in winter, but that was decades ago. I have only seen two or three together at a time.
Things have improved a lot and our region has between two to four per cent of the UK’s great crested grebe population, depending on whether you are counting in summer or winter.
One thing is for sure, you are likely to see great crested grebes on the majority of large lakes in the North West.
So, next time you are near your local nature reserve keep an eye out for the crest of the grebe and its stripey children. And remember just how close we were to losing this beautiful bird.
To become a member of the Trust go to the website at www. lancswt.org.uk or call 01772 324129. For more information about Cheshire Wildlife Trust call 01948 820728 or go to cheshirewildlifetrust. org.uk.