Conscientious Grebe parents nesting, hatching and feeding their delightful striped chicks.

A pair of Great Crested Grebes (Podiceps cristatus australis) nested amongst the branches of a fallen Paperbark tree (Melaleuca rhaphiophylla) in Herdsman Lake in Spring (October and November) 2023. They built their floating nest of waterweeds, with both adults contributing nesting materials. The female Grebe laid five eggs and two of them hatched. Both parents incubated their eggs, taking turns so that the sitting Grebe could feed. The first chick appeared on November 10, followed shortly by another. Twelve days later both of the beautiful, striped Grebe chicks had grown a lot, and were closely following their mother as their father caught small Mosquitofish to feed them. Their abandoned nest was left with one unhatched egg in it.

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