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.
Are these the grebes adjacent to the Upper Reaches? If so they were there on Sunday, but the nest was gone on monday morning. If so does any one know what happened to them?
Picture taken on Saturday. So I’m not sure. Shame.
We saw them Sunday afternoon, just a little further down the river. However, only appeared to be one chick then.
In reply to Peter, I used to work in a Bridge Street office overlooking the rear of the Abingdon Boat Centre and a quiet backwater.
We could clearly see grebes under constant attack from moorhens who would also destroy the grebes nests.
I think this could be the answer to your question.
Saw grebes at Thrupp Lake too last weekend.