Sunday 19 May 2013

New faces on Derwent water

Great Crested Grebe
I have lived and worked around Derwent Water for many years, in fact for 8 years I lived right on the shore, at Derwent Bay. and in all those years, and for many more before I lived in Cumbria  I have never ever seen Great Crested Grebe on the Lake. So when a phone call from my mate Les explaining what he had seen while driving the launch, came as quite a surprise.

Today was the first chance I have had to go over there and check things out for my self. The story goes that the pair started to build a nest last weekend, then the first egg was laid. unfortunately they decided to build their nest almost in the channel the launches have to sail along to get into the Lodore landings. plus its an area where there are a lot of canoeists about. it may be these two hazards or the fact that we have have a lot of rain, but the nest seemed to have been disturbed at some point. Not to be put off though the pair have set to and started a rebuild.

What a crazy place to build a nest



The nest is a long way from vegetation.






Hopefully Les will keep me updated, as I don't know when I'll get over there again, depends on transport

16 comments:

  1. Wonderful shots of the Great Crested Grebes! They are stunning! I wish them luck with their nesting!

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  2. Thank you Tammy, its going to be interesting, but I don't hold much hope.
    All the best Gordon.

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  3. Thanks for the update Gordon, fingers crossed. Hope you are well :)

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  4. Good to hear from you young Sir, and I like what I see on your site.
    All the best my friend. Gordon.

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  5. Nice post for the bird-theme!

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  6. Great photos of the Grebes. I hope they have better luck with the new nest.

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  7. a special occasion to witness these handsome ducks Gordon. Yes looks odd seeing the 'nest' out there in the seemingly depths; they just float about? Hope you get back again when the chicks are hatched

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  8. Great sightings!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

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  9. I thank you all so very much for your kind and interesting comments.
    The very best to you all Gordon.

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  10. Cool series this pretty Grebe! It is one of my favorites from your part of the world.

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  11. Terrific shots. I wonder why they would build the nest there?

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  12. Such an unusual bird and that "mohawk" makes me smile. Is this quite an unexpected place for them to build a nest? Maybe they want to make if difficult for preditors. My friend is on day 12 of a saga about a duck that has decided to lay eggs among her flowers in the yard--in the suburbs. She hopes that the nest escapes notice until the eggs hatch.

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  13. I think most GREBES build a floating nest, but I have never seen one so far away from vegitation. The last I heard She was sitting on eggs.
    All the best everyone , Gordon.

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  14. Grebes have their own idea about what a good place for a nest is. A bit like teenagers who know everything better than their elders.

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A big thank you to everyone for looking in and leaving their comments, much appreciated, Gordon.