Psilos Bird Journal
Saturday October 21st 2006
     
"Underaged courtship "
 
 
Yesterday I had a close encounter with the grebe family on Moses gate lake and not being able to resist these wonderful birds decided to go back for more. When resting and preening they sit out in the middle of the lake but when fishing they come very close into the edge.
     

Their first bout of fishing took place down the bottom end of the lake. Here the water comes right over the grass which is great for getting down low to photograph the birds but it means getting quite wet and muddy. This is not the most favoured place to fish and they dont seem to catch quite so many fish as up the top end where I think the fish are attracted by the bread people throw in to the ducks.
     

     
The juveniles are becoming much more independant now and spend some time on their own away from the family group fishing. When they return though they really make themselves heard and pester the parents very vocally for food. The bird in the fore of the photo above had just come back and was really trying to get himself noticed.
     

When they came up the top end I would lay down alongside the water with the light behind me and just watch. Here they come in very close, often so close I could not focus on them. They would spend alot of time in this area as the fishing was excellent.

The juveniles now can catch some fish for themselves and the adults often swim round with fish that the juveniles dont want. More and more frequently I see the parents eat the fish for themselves.
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