L0n3Gr3yW0lf
Hall of Famer
- Location
- Somerset, UK
- Name
- Ovi
I wanted to make this post for some time but I haven't found what this bird is until very recently:
Called Little Grebe or Dudchick (Tachybaptus ruficollis), it's a very small aquatic bird that I never seen until this spring. They are quite common in Europe, North Africa, Asia and Russia.
But they are extremely skiddish and often you get only a few seconds of seeing it before it dives in the water (sometimes for minutes). Not the easiest birds to photograph because of this. The dive under water to look for food and use vegetation to hide most of their presents.
They do migrate from areas where the water can freeze but they tend to stay in their local place most of the year, still water like lakes and ponds or even costal enclaves and shorelines.
They are very small and agile, with brown neck and yellow little spots. Their calling is very distinct, loud and different from the usual ducks in their area, it's what grabbed my attention to look for them last month.
At the pond in my neighborhood I have found not one but a mated pair of Little Grebes with the tiny tiniest little baby bird I have seen, The Tiny Grebe I call it.
This is my neighbourhood pond (though the water level is to low in this satellite picture) and the Little Grebes prefer to stay within the red marked area because of the shallow water and density of the vegetation. All the pictures were made in just that green little circle.
The pond has (from what I have found and photographed so far):
*Mated pair of Swans
*Lots of Mallard Ducks
*A few Moorhen Ducks
*Mated pair of Tuff Ducks
*To many Gulls
*Lots of House Sparrow and Dunnocks
*A Loooot of Swallows
The only picture I managed to get of both parents and the little chick. The contrast is a bit low because of grass between me and them and sometimes I have to give up IQ for the chance to shoot because they can disappear under the water before I can even flinch to change my position.
Now this is the cutest little chick I have ever seen, barely the size of my thumb. He was floating on the water on his own while the parents were constantly diving under to get food for him.
The parents would come back up with food at random places and the little chick would have to swim as fast as his little butt could to them so he can get the food (worms and other aquatic creatures). It was an adorable spectacle to observe.
They can have around a handful of eggs after mating but I only saw one little chick and given it's size I'm pretty sure it was a very young one. The images were made on the 3rd of May, now the chick is quite a bit bigger (I will have to post those images later).
If you do want to approach them you need to very careful and methodic because they are very very shy. They will notice instantly and they will dive as soon as possible and you can never predict where they will come back up. The chick is to young here to dive so he was trying to swim towards the dense reeds that will come up later in the images.
The way I approached is wait until the parents are under the water then I walk to the edge of the water as close as I can get (and stay dry) and sit down. I use a waterproof long shaped tarp (bought it online, it's 2 meters long and 60 cm wide, big enough for me to sit down on my tummy and stay dry) to get as close to the waters edge and low angle as possible. You can also stay crouched or on your bum if it's dry enough.
A bit of perspective of how small and difficult it can be to photograph the tiny one, it was basically the size of the smallest AF point on OM-1 in the EVF. Subject detection did not work very well on him but it did work fine with his parents.
The parents would occasionally shout at each other to make sure the other one was fine or get a general location of where they are because they dive every few seconds and come out at different places it's easy to lose track of each other.
Sometimes you got to do the shake.
The little one was getting a bit to anxious and started moving towards the reeds where he can easily disappear and stay safe from predators.
The parents would have to call him to come back out because they can't dive or break in the reeds because of the thickness of the reeds. They can swim in there though and tend to disappear for a while if they get to anxious about something.
The little one would come out, have his meal then swim back in while the parent would dive back in the water to catch more food.
The adults don't mind going out in the open though they tend to not stay above the water for to long. They don't go to the shore much because their legs are not well supported for land walking like the other ducks and birds.
The little one will go in open water, especially if the parents go to far away but it's extremely dangerous for him.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Called Little Grebe or Dudchick (Tachybaptus ruficollis), it's a very small aquatic bird that I never seen until this spring. They are quite common in Europe, North Africa, Asia and Russia.
But they are extremely skiddish and often you get only a few seconds of seeing it before it dives in the water (sometimes for minutes). Not the easiest birds to photograph because of this. The dive under water to look for food and use vegetation to hide most of their presents.
They do migrate from areas where the water can freeze but they tend to stay in their local place most of the year, still water like lakes and ponds or even costal enclaves and shorelines.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
They are very small and agile, with brown neck and yellow little spots. Their calling is very distinct, loud and different from the usual ducks in their area, it's what grabbed my attention to look for them last month.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
At the pond in my neighborhood I have found not one but a mated pair of Little Grebes with the tiny tiniest little baby bird I have seen, The Tiny Grebe I call it.
This is my neighbourhood pond (though the water level is to low in this satellite picture) and the Little Grebes prefer to stay within the red marked area because of the shallow water and density of the vegetation. All the pictures were made in just that green little circle.
The pond has (from what I have found and photographed so far):
*Mated pair of Swans
*Lots of Mallard Ducks
*A few Moorhen Ducks
*Mated pair of Tuff Ducks
*To many Gulls
*Lots of House Sparrow and Dunnocks
*A Loooot of Swallows
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The only picture I managed to get of both parents and the little chick. The contrast is a bit low because of grass between me and them and sometimes I have to give up IQ for the chance to shoot because they can disappear under the water before I can even flinch to change my position.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Now this is the cutest little chick I have ever seen, barely the size of my thumb. He was floating on the water on his own while the parents were constantly diving under to get food for him.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The parents would come back up with food at random places and the little chick would have to swim as fast as his little butt could to them so he can get the food (worms and other aquatic creatures). It was an adorable spectacle to observe.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
They can have around a handful of eggs after mating but I only saw one little chick and given it's size I'm pretty sure it was a very young one. The images were made on the 3rd of May, now the chick is quite a bit bigger (I will have to post those images later).
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
If you do want to approach them you need to very careful and methodic because they are very very shy. They will notice instantly and they will dive as soon as possible and you can never predict where they will come back up. The chick is to young here to dive so he was trying to swim towards the dense reeds that will come up later in the images.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The way I approached is wait until the parents are under the water then I walk to the edge of the water as close as I can get (and stay dry) and sit down. I use a waterproof long shaped tarp (bought it online, it's 2 meters long and 60 cm wide, big enough for me to sit down on my tummy and stay dry) to get as close to the waters edge and low angle as possible. You can also stay crouched or on your bum if it's dry enough.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
A bit of perspective of how small and difficult it can be to photograph the tiny one, it was basically the size of the smallest AF point on OM-1 in the EVF. Subject detection did not work very well on him but it did work fine with his parents.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The parents would occasionally shout at each other to make sure the other one was fine or get a general location of where they are because they dive every few seconds and come out at different places it's easy to lose track of each other.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
Sometimes you got to do the shake.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The little one was getting a bit to anxious and started moving towards the reeds where he can easily disappear and stay safe from predators.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The parents would have to call him to come back out because they can't dive or break in the reeds because of the thickness of the reeds. They can swim in there though and tend to disappear for a while if they get to anxious about something.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The little one would come out, have his meal then swim back in while the parent would dive back in the water to catch more food.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The adults don't mind going out in the open though they tend to not stay above the water for to long. They don't go to the shore much because their legs are not well supported for land walking like the other ducks and birds.
Join to see EXIF info for this image (if available)
The little one will go in open water, especially if the parents go to far away but it's extremely dangerous for him.
