Nest filming - Number 2 Great Crested Grebe nest

As well as filming the Goose nest on the duck island there is a Grebe nest right behind on a floating nest structure built from sticks, reeds, mud, weed and various items found floating on the lake. As I filmed a pair last year successfully on the same lake and they had 3 chicks which all fledged and I learned that my cameras would not affect there breeding season if I follow last years technique.

 Filmed in 2012

 A well built nest high from any rise in water level and out of the wind

I decided on kayaking past putting my Go pro mount in then leaving for a few days for the Grebe to get used to. Then add a camera as and when I kayak on the lake the priority is as small amount of disturbance as possible.

When fitting the camera I noticed 4 eggs under the vegetation that the female uses to hide the eggs before she leaves the nest

Incubating the eggs after 2 minutes of putting the camera on

Doing some rebuilding before the rain comes and as Flash is getting abit moody with the Grebes the stronger nest the better.

Posing for the camera if you look to the right behind the Grebe you can see abit of white and that's Flash by the Goose nest where I was filming when the camera was on the Grebes nest.

 Flash checking out the Goose eggs and he looks very suspicious here but I will go into more detail in a future post.

 Now that the Grebes are used to my camera they return after 2-4 minutes of me leaving the nest area to wait for a few hours in the reeds across the other side of the lake with binoculars to keep on eye on the camera.

One of the shots I wanted to get was one of the Grebe on the nest at sunrise and this weekend I got it. I had to setup the camera before sunrise in the dark so when the sun turned the sky orange the Grebe would be in place for the footage.

 I cleared some dead branches off the duck island where I can sit in/by a tree about 4-5M away from the nest to film in a chair hide for a variety of shots hopefully some low shots of the Grebes on the nest with me filming behind if possible. As the weather looks sunny and warm this week it's looking like I should be able to film this week but what I really want to film is the extreme weather from strong winds to heavy rain that these stunning looking birds have to put up with and as they are one of my most favorite birds I am very excited to get started.

   I managed to create this little banner for my blog and links from the Grebe footage.

Thanks for reading

Mike

Tomorrow - Something unexpected we discovered on the Little Orme in North Wales