Went to photograph a Little Grebe nest (
Tachybaptus ruficollis, Dodaars in Dutch) this morning during a ringing session at COWB (Commission Ornithologique Watermael Bosvoorde), and got a pleasant surprise. One of the chicks had hatched and was still on the nest, but barely. Apparently it didn't like the looks of us and decided to scoot off the nest. At first there was some anxiety (also w Christopher and Deloi), but after remembering that this bird is precocial (can swim soon after hatching), we all took a deep breath and relaxed.
To the left of the nest, which still had one egg remaining, you can see the grebelet. It began vocalizing and we started to wonder when an adult would make an appearance.
Now the grebelet ventured farther and farther from the nest ... still vocalizing ... still no adult. Began to imagine the thoughts going through the little chick's brain, like in the children's book by P.D. Eastman, "Where's my mommy?", which has to be one of my favorite books of all time. If you haven't read it, it's never too late!
...
finally the caregiver shows up, but it doesn't stick around for long. It's apparent from the behavior (frantically swimming in circles) that the parent is falling behind schedule, and this newest little bundle of protoplasm isn't going to slow it down.
Can you see the tiny black dot on the right side of the parent? That's the chick, and it's attempting to climb aboard. But as I mentioned, the parent showed little patience, because nanoseconds after I snapped this foto, they both disappeared in a flash. Was this the grebelets first dive, I wondered. And did it even get to take a breath before it took the plunge?
Went to photograph a Little Grebe nest (Tachybaptus ruficollis, Dodaars in Dutch) this morning during a ringing session at COWB (Commission Ornithologique Watermael Bosvoorde), and got a pleasant surprise. One of the chicks had hatched and was still on the nest, but barely. Apparently it didn't like the looks of us and decided to scoot off the nest. At first there was some anxiety (also w Christopher and Deloi), but after remembering that this bird is precocial (can swim soon after hatching), we all took a deep breath and relaxed. 
To the left of the nest, which still had one egg remaining, you can see the grebelet. It began vocalizing and we started to wonder when an adult would make an appearance.
Now the grebelet ventured farther and farther from the nest ... still vocalizing ... still no adult. Began to imagine the thoughts going through the little chick's brain, like in the children's book by P.D. Eastman, "Where's my mommy?", which has to be one of my favorite books of all time. If you haven't read it, it's never too late! 
... finally the caregiver shows up, but it doesn't stick around for long. It's apparent from the behavior (frantically swimming in circles) that the parent is falling behind schedule, and this newest little bundle of protoplasm isn't going to slow it down. 
Can you see the tiny black dot on the right side of the parent? That's the chick, and it's attempting to climb aboard. But as I mentioned, the parent showed little patience, because nanoseconds after I snapped this foto, they both disappeared in a flash. Was this the grebelets first dive, I wondered. And did it even get to take a breath before it took the plunge?
2 comments:
Fun story!
it was so fun to see! And luckily i had my camera this along, but video would've been even better because of the zoom. Gotta get some new lenses-
Post a Comment