Wednesday 26 September 2012

Great-crested Grebes, RW, 17-19 Sept

Still three eggs on the 17th Sept. About day 29 for the first egg.

First chick hatched on the 18th with only one egg remaining in the nest on the 19th. Don't know what happened to the other egg. 


Close up, the colours and markings of the chicks are amazing.



The adults offered feathers (helps form pellets) to the chick almost straight away.






Both adults watching the second egg hatching.

Just hatched. 

Within 10 minutes of hatching, the second chick was already attempting to climb up on to the adults back. It looked like a large slimy Toad as it slowly crawled it's way up into the parents back


Occasionally the adults misjudged their route back to the nest and would pop up in the blanket of algae that surrounded the nest.