“Spent a delightful hour after work today observing a family of Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis) swimming around their usual pond near the recently-developed Halus wetlands. There were 3 fluffy black chicks with bright yellow bills swimming near their parents. The adult grebes were busy, swimming back & forth, diving frequently and constantly feeding the chicks. Sometimes all 3 chicks would climb on the back of a parent for a ride -such a heartwarming picture, if only my little cam had a more powerful zoom to capture that.
“Here’s a clip of the family – I was lucky enough to record their calls, a ‘shrill whinnying trill’ at the beginning of the video. I wonder why the parents then suddenly paddled off in opposite directions, leaving the slightly bewildered chicks behind, not sure of which parent to follow. After a bout of preening, one chick headed purposefully towards the left, tried to scramble up the back of the parent, but had to contend itself just being tucked under a big wing instead…”
Lena Chow
Singapore
19th March 2012
