My interest in birds goes way back to primary school in England. The reason for it is totally unfathomable, no one else in the family was so inclined although there were a couple of books about birds in our small collection. At the time I lived in Leyton, London within walking distance of Whipps Cross where there is some residual oak forest and the Hollow Ponds.
I doubt that parents these days would be comfortable with an eight year old wandering off by themselves to go bird watching but it seemed normal enough back then.
There were a couple of birds that I regarded as megastars – the Jay and the Great Crested Grebe. The Jay has a wide distribution across Europe and Asia but doesn’t make it to Australia which is where I now live. The Great Crested Grebe though does.
I went for a walk around Lake Wendouree in Ballarat the other day and there were several pairs swimming about.
We have three species of Grebe in Oz. The Australasian Grebe is the smallest and occurs on shallow freshwater sometimes on surprisingly small ponds. The Hoary-headed Grebe is slightly larger and dives slightly deeper. It occurs on fresh water bodies and is also happy in sheltered salt water. The Great Crested is the largest of the three, dives deeper and is found on lakes rather than ponds.
For the photographer none of the grebes are particularly cooperative. They like a comfortable distance between you and them. When I found myself close to a pair of Great Crested Grebes in some reeds I sat on the bank and waited hoping that they would emerge and give me a shot. Eventually one did …
In concentrating on the first pair I had failed to notice a second pair coming from my right. They were quite close by the time I saw them, their necks stretched out in aggressive pose. Here’s a close up of one of them …
This was a territorial issue. Pair number one retreated into the reeds. Pair number two went in after them, there was a few moments of splashing, unfortunately hidden from my view. Pair number two re-emerged and stood guard for a couple of minutes. The edge of the reeds was clearly the territory boundary.
It was only then, it seemed, that they realised I was there.
The scientific name of the Great Crested Grebe is Podiceps cristatus, wherein lies a story …
bobmcgee 
Is this from your assignment back in 1998?
It could be couldn’t it, Roy. Much of what I know about grebes is from personal observation from said three species whilst gaining my Grad Dip in ornithology at Charles Sturt University. A good time shared with your good self!
Thanks for that, it brought back memories of my childhood. We used to visit Wisley Lake near where I lived and I loved watching the Grebes. If I remember rightly they used to have an amazing courting display where they would swim together facing each other. I always love your excellent photos
Thanks, mate. I’ve never been able to photograph the mating dance but yes it’s spectacular.