"Odds & Sods" (old version) - please add to the new thread 2020 instead !

There is a family of Great Crested Grebes near me. The 4 chicks were born 2 days ago. The mother has been carrying them around on her back. This was the first time this one went for a swim on his own. You can see how proud the parents look. The father continuously bringing fish for the chicks as well as the mother. They are very busy parents indeed. I walked away from them for an hour and came back only to be told that 1 of them had been predated by a Gull. It's going to be a tough time for them with so many predators around waiting for the right moment. On this lake in Somerset are Herons, GW Egrets, Bitterns, Otters and Numerous gulls all waiting for the right opportunity when the protective parents turn their backs for just a few seconds.I fear they will not last long. I will check on them next Saturday..

Very nice Paul.

Fabulous photos Bob, the colour in those birds is fantastic. Bad news though when you mentioned the direction they are flying in. Protecting our BoP is so important but we can't expect any help from the politicians when they are still fraffing about Brexit and will be for years to come by the sound of it (:

Two's company and three's a crowd ........... at one stage our daily mallard visitors were joined by another pair who were instantly seen off by the resident drake.    It was mayhem for an hour as chasing ensued, ducks flew off, returned and battled ending up with only one female returning and two drakes who were chasing her all over the garden !     I lost track of who was who at this stage but took some very quick record shots of three of them......

First it was the two drakes chasing the frantically quacking female ......................

then the female gave one of the drakes an earful and chased it away  !!

then the two drakes had a set to ........................

the "loser" checked his undercarriage for holes      LOL

whilst the female just ignored them both and started eating 

They went up to the roof three times .........................    then just one pair were there .....

There's never a dull moment in this garden    ha ha !

Oh my Hazel you have had fun and games today!

I suppose it is duck fighting time, isn't it and, considering how laid back they are normally, Mallard drakes don't half go for it when the mood takes them. It's just as well they weren't wing-slapping and trying to drown each other in the pond!

Brilliant action Hazy, hard to keep up I'm sure, will it all happen again tomorrow I wonder.

This is from a few days ago and one of the better Kingfisher sightings I've had in recent months. I still see them regularly but it won't be until June/July and the fledglings appear before the locals show close in on a daily basis.

I thought he had caught a newt at the time, but on closer inspection it turned out to be a dragonfly larva (and a bit of weed that looked like the newt's tail). Really unfortunate for the larva, as I assume it had moved into the shallows ready to climb out and change!

If I can't get a photo of a Chiffchaff this year, I did get one of my first Blackcap. Also saw my first Willow Warbler on Sunday, so the warbler numbers are definitely on the up. Still waiting for Whitethroat, Reed and Sedge but it shouldn't be long.

Lovely to see the LRP's have returned too, this is one of two that appeared the other day.

Great shots and species Nigel, nice collection.