Sunday 15 July 2012

Black-necked Grebe, take 2

I paid another visit to Baston & Langtoft gravel pits today to see if the Black-necked Grebe was still present and also if I could get some slightly better shots of it.

The bird was present, but frustratingly elusive, constantly diving and `going missing` for 15-20 minutes at a time. I did manage to get a few reasonable digiscoped images of the bird, but am still not 100% happy!





The Black-necked Grebe is a smallish bird, smaller than a Moorhen. An extremely scarce breeder in the British Isles, with only about 50 pairs breeding here, they are specially protected at all times with their breeding sites permanently monitored. A stunningly beautiful bird in breeding plumage, although in Winter the bird loses the gold `ear tufts` and brown on the side and becomes basically black and white. They still have that piercing red eye though.

A lovely bird to bring my PBC year list to 170.

22 comments:

  1. Hi John..Wow.. who could miss those eyes..they sure a a piercing red,the first thing I noticed!!
    That is a low count of breeders I can see why they are protected!!
    Lovely photos ..he is a beauty!!
    Grace

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    1. Thank you Grace,
      The eyes really do stare at you, don`t they! They are such scarce breeders in the U.K. and it`s a shame to think that the only reason this bird is present in our area so early is due to failure in breeding, either due to the weather, or it couldn`t find a mate.
      J

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  2. Red eye and ear tufts .. what a beauty.

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  3. Excellent shots of this beauty John.
    I'd be very happy with those.

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    1. Thanks Keith, I think I am a bit picky! ;)
      J

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  4. Nice captures of a lovely little bird John.

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    1. Thanks Andrew, I hope they do the bird some justice!
      J

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  5. What a lovely Grebe, those eyes...wow~

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    1. Hi Mary, yes, they are really piercing, aren`t they!
      J

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  6. Wow, that is a lovely bird! Love that striking, bright red eye! I wonder if it glows in the dark, haha:)

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    1. Hi Tammy, yes, a lovely bird. Not sure if the eyes do glow in the dark, I have only ever seen them in daylight! ;)
      J

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  7. Aha! I knew you would try again ;-) Well done, great shots John! What a stunning bird it is and you have captured that piercing red eye beautifully.

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    1. Hi Jan,
      Yes, you know me too well and Thank you, too kind!
      J

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  8. Seems to me you got some nice shots here. Did you use your new camera for these as well? Thought of you when in the hides at Cley Next to Sea. If I lived close to a great birding spot like that, I'd definitely invest in better equipment!

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    1. Hi Susan,
      Thank you. No, I got the photos by using my usual digiscoping gear, didn't feel `brave` enough to use my new camera in this way yet!
      Cley is a marvelous place, a real birding mecca, just 1 1/2hrs from me. I really should visit more often than I do!
      J

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  9. Quite a characterful looking bird! Smashing shots.

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    1. Thanks Omi, certainly better than on the previous post! At least you can tell what it is, I hope! ;)
      J

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