Today 10th, 3 pairs of Grt Crd Grebe with young. On the main lodge 1 pair with 2 very grown up young. 1 bird with young on back not sure how many only 1 head visible. On the small lodge, 1 bird with 1 small young but couldn't find the other one so could still be sitting. Tern chicks doing well. Also heard Gropper but couldn't find it. Reed Warblers showing really well.
Dean the gcs that have the territory on the main lake near the causeway hatched their young this week and the pair that breed on the smaller lake at the back hatched theirs the week before. I havent seen either young in the water so dont know how many each of them have. There is only one nest at present on the causeway raft and four on the other raft. The other pair have yet to lay. Glad you saw 2 chicks on that raft. I couldnt see exaclly how many there were there.
Good to hear about 3 pairs of Grebes with young. The pair i saw had 2 young with them which were nearly the size of the adults and diving quite happily. I'll keep an eye out for the others in the next few weeks. I was pretty sure that some of the terns were feeding at least 2 chicks. The raft near to the causeway had 2 chicks. Is there 1 nest on here or more? There only seemed to be 1 pair coming in to feed them.
I was at doffcocker all afternoon today. There are 6 pairs of Common Terns in total with 3 pairs with one chick each, 2 pairs brooding and one pair yet to lay. I watched them bonding with the male feeding the female today. There are also 3 pairs of breeding Great crested grebes all of which have chicks, the oldest having 2 chicks that are now 7 weeks old and the youngest only hatching this last few days. It is good to see that the eggs of the geese havent been destroyed this year and that good numbers of goslings can also be seen.
Counted 9 Terns this afternoon with 3 pairs with at least 2 chicks each. Another one looked to be brooding. Lots of feeding activity. Aslo 2 juv Gt Cd Grebe, very large. 2 Reed Warblers 1 Gropper, very brief song and sighting, then dissapeared. Sedge Warbler Blackcap plus the usual stuff.
