A Tale of Two Grebes (and an angry cormorant)

 One of the most exciting and biodiverse features on UEA's campus is the lake (the UEA Broad). I decided to go for a walk around the lake the other day on the lookout for water voles - apparently there were more sightings following some rather wet weather and flooding...

You can hardly tell if it's a path or a river!

So equipped with some new wellies I headed out around the lake. While the flooding had subsided and the water voles proved elusive, there was still plenty of wildlife out and about, including some fascinating birds...

Little Grebe

The first waterbird I saw was a very cute little grebe (Tachybaptus ruficollis). This individual was proving quite shy, swimming amongst some of the reeds in the lake, and often diving under the water for long periods of time, searching for its prey of insects and small fish. I've rarely seen these birds so it was a real treat to see even if it was hiding away!

Great Crested Grebe

Next up was another member of the grebe family, the great crested grebe (Podiceps cristatus). They were looking particularly impressive today, having just regained their stunning head feathers as they enter the breeding season (although hunting specifically for these feathers almost drove them to extinction here in the UK). Sadly, they were not yet performing their elaborate courtship dances, but they were displaying some interesting behaviours. I saw three individuals on the lake, with two seemingly starting to pair up and hang around together, leaving one lonely grebe at the other end of the lake. This guy was continually stretching their neck out (just like the picture above) and making a funny, barking call (you can listen to one here).

Cormorant

The third waterbird I saw was the cormorant (Phalacrocorax carbo). While traditionally a seabird, it is increasingly seen at freshwater sites such as the UEA lake, where it's often seen drying its outstretched wings on a particular dry tree. This bird was much bolder than the two grebe species, giving really good views of it diving, often successfully, for fish (this habit also making it vulnerable to persecution in the past due to competition with fisherpeople). The cormorant was also brave when it came to defending its fishing sites from the great crested grebe. While the cormorant would likely be targeting larger fish species, it clearly saw the grebe as competition for its food, chasing it off aggressively on several occasions. It almost looked like the cormorant was trying to predate it with the ferocity of the attack and how close its beak got to the grebe!

This was my attempt to photograph the cormorant! Using my phone camera from a distance, most of the bird photos I took on the trip were similarly blurry, so the three images of birds above are taken from the Wildlife Trusts website.