Another week with no rain and the lagoons are shrinking fast, but at least one pair of birds has done well out of the falling water levels. For the last couple of years a pair of great crested grebes have attempted to nest on the lagoons, but each year the nest has ended up being washed out by heavy rainfall so no eggs hatched. No danger of that this year, so it was with real pleasure that we saw the first grebe chick head poking out of the feathers on the parent's back on Tuesday, looking like a tiny stripy mint humbug. Success at last! The chicks hatch over the course of several days, but both birds were off the nest today, so I'm guessing that the whole brood must be riding around on the parent's backs now. Once the chicks are a little bigger, the brood will be split between the two parents and the two groups may well separate and live completely independently. I wonder how they choose who goes with whom?
Elsewhere out on the lagoons, redshank numbers are continuing to build up, and a single green sandpiper which had been seen daily was joined by another one today. The bearded tits have been heard sporadically from the reedbed, but seem to be hiding well within it, as no-one has actually seen them for a while. Wildfowl numbers are gradually rising too, with 5 male teal seen today, and a big influx of moulting mallard (109 counted on 20 June!) in the last fortnight. All we need now is some water for them to swim around on, so any rain dances you feel like doing would be very welcome!