Valentines Park: Another Update

First I will continue with the Great Crested Grebe saga on Valentines Park Boating Lake: since I last wrote, the two parents and the chick have been ignoring each other and the chick has developed into an efficient, independent diver for his own food. However, today was a bit different:

Quite soon I saw the two adults swimming about together but no sign of the chick:




After going round the lake at least five times, searching for him, I got worried. Finally I spotted him, to my relief. He was busy swimming and diving:



After a time he disappeared and I next found him under an oak tree on the South bank, resting and preening himself:




To my surprize, not far off- under the same oak tree- was one of his parents, dozing on the water. They were not paying any attention to each other:


Suddenly, the chick made a move towards his parent: he lowered and stretched out his neck down on the water, in a supplicating manner, cheeping at the same time. The parent made threatening head movements at him:



The chick tried to creep nearer, but the adult had had enough and frightened him off:


The chick returned to his original bit of water and the adult swam off towards the middle of the lake...