Great Crested Grebe!!

Podiceps cristatus

Finally! I love these birds but until today had never seen them in the wild or in captivity. After a busy day of shops, and car searching I headed to Herdsman Lake just north west of the CBD in search of these guys (and whatever else I could find!). I got some great shots of an egret fishing and some wood ducks ducks flapping and splashing but the grebes were displaying their elaborate courtship behavior so perfectly that I just had to share them! After shot four (bottom right) there was lots of head flicking and twirling and puffing out of the neck feathers. So beautiful to watch!

P.S. I think I may have found the perfect car!! A little more than I wanted to spend, but I test drove it today and have kind of fallen in love! Just need to sort out finance and have it mechanically checked, then hopefully I will be a proud Suzie owner once again :)