About two weeks ago, returning to Ilford after an absence of ten days, the first thing I did was to anxiously check up on the Grebe family who had only recently hatched their chick when I left. To my relief, there they all were, but surprizingly they had made a new nest- under the same Elder tree but further out in the lake:
While one bird sat on the nest, the other was still energetically building it up with "logs" and sludge:
Then- to my delight- when the adult on the nest rose up- there I saw one egg!
And the next day there were two eggs!
And the day after that there were three eggs!
The chick in the meantime was growing up fast, learning to preen himself like his parent:
Swimming out into the lake after his diving parent:
Learning to dive himself, after his parent- and then being disconcerted to find no sign of the adult, who had swum far away underwater...
Constantly the chick was following the non-nest-sitting parent, constantly crying out "cheep-cheep-cheep" for food... here one parent gives him a little fish...
At other times the chick scrambles onto his parent's back:
And then scrambles off...
Ready to get another fish from the other adult...
And finally, here he is sailing off on his parent's back...
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