Congratulations!!

Just one goal today - keep an eye on Mr & Mrs G and monitor for signs of hatching eggs........all to be done at a distance of course.  Not expecting much, I took a lazy walk down to my viewing spot late morning and was a bit surprised to find both grebes there - one brooding on the nest, the other paddling lazily in the water nearby.  As I watched the paddler (I can't actually tell Mr from Mrs) I was having a quiet chuckle to myself about his odd, if not somewhat immodest swimming style (today's blip).  As I zoomed in (I'm loving my long lens for these guys!) I could see that his feathers were a bit fluffed up and as I looked really closely I saw it.....the teeny, tiny white head of a chick resting on his back between his wings!  Take a look large and you'll see him.  I continued to watch for maybe an hour during which time there was a role swap.  The changeover seemed to be called by the brooder - she just stood up, walked to the water and slid in, clearly the signal that she needed a break/swim/feed.  As paddler readied to jump/lumber onto the platform to replace her I wondered what would happen to wee Humbug  who was still resting on his back (remember those mint humbugs we used to have?  Chick looks just like one of those!).  Well, his lumbering was maybe a little more laboured than previously but he still managed to get onto the nest whilst keeping wee Humbug in place.  Very clever, and wonderful to witness.

At around 5.00-ish I returned to see how the new family unit was progressing.  What a difference five hours makes!  Little Humbug seemed to be noticeably more fluffy and mobile and at one point, on another changeover, he was gently encouraged off the back of the departing (brooding) parent only then to be left on the platform to find his own way onto the back of the substitute parent.  He certainly looked a bit ungainly doing it, but he did get there.  Not a bad effort at all for less than 24 hours old.  Actually, looking at my images more closely tonight has made me think that he can't have been more than an hour or two out of the shell when I first saw him (blip pic)  as he appeared to have a distinctly pink patch on his head which was very clearly white and fluffy by this evening.  I may of course, be imagining things.

From what I've read, grebe chicks arrive about 2 days apart which increases their survival chances.  I guess that means the next arrival is likely to be Thursday.  It'll be interesting to see how much wee Humbug advances tomorrow whilst he still has his parents undivided attention......it's beginning to look more and more like I'll be staying another night tomorrow too!!