I am told that the Grebe’s nest on the Abbey Millstream was washed away last year, but this year two of the brood have survived.

There is a striking difference between the two parents. The hunter parent has stayed slim enough to dive deep after fish, and the other parent seems to have put on extra buoyancy to keep the nest afloat.

The Grebe young, with their zebra markings, also have very good appetites.

Back in mid march, during the last time we had a spell of warm weather, this blog captured two swans in the middle of love making.

It is good to see that they now have a family.

Hans Christian Andersen went a bit far calling them ugly ducklings .

Near the fancy birdhide at Thrupp Lake there is a board for people to write down wildlife they have seen. I did not see the ducklings somebody had spotted on 6th April.

I saw most of the usual birds: swans, geese, ducks,

and a solitary grebe. Grebe disappear underwater and reappear – often some way from where they went under. This particular grebe went under and seemed to be gone for ages.

When the grebe reappeared he had a whopper and did not let it go.

Thanks to Steve for this one. He says “My wife Daphne took this last week at Thrupp Lake (Radley Lakes). The local fishermen blame the absence of fish there on the abundance of Cormorants, but having seen this monster I think he’s to blame. It’s a Red Eared terrapin from North America. Apparently they were all the rage a few years ago during The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle craze. But when people realised how big they got they disposed of them by chucking them in rivers, lakes and ponds. They have a diet of frogs and their spawn, eels, fish, ducklings and eggs.”