Nick Hardcastle

Little Grebes (Tachybaptus ruficollis) have to be one of my favourite sights at Thalangama Tank. They are quite small, maybe 26 cm or so, fluffy and active. They dive for fish, water bugs, molluscs and larvae, disappearing under the water for what seems like an age. Sometimes they hunt insects or small frogs amongst the floating vegetation. They have had a particularly successful breeding season this year. Their normal clutch size is between 2 and 10 eggs, and in Europe only about 40% fledge. In this little group there were a total of 14! Perhaps the fledglings from two females?