Gread crested grebes rising their chicks - a photo heavy story
Hi!
The photographic season for young great crested grebes ended quite a while ago, but I’ve only just managed to process a larger batch of photos.
This year, Wanda and I experienced our most interesting and best photographic adventure yet when it comes to great crested grebes. We photographed two pairs; unfortunately, we didn't have enough time for a third. We observed them on the nest from a safe distance. We witnessed the moment they left the nest right after the last chick hatched. We watched them feeding their young and watched the chicks grow.
These birds were exceptionally patient and accommodating—we’ve never had the opportunity to interact with ones quite like them. They surprised us on several occasions, whether by swimming past us at a distance of 1m right after hatching, or by calmly paddling up to us on their own so closely that we had to slowly move away from them just to capture something other than a tight portrait crop. A few photos were taken with a "naked" 400mm lens from the shore, as the plan was for one of us to photograph them from the water. But what can you do when they swam right up to the other photographer on the shore and filled the frame so much that it was sometimes too tight? The joy of being able to observe them from such close range is incredible.
The photos were taken from both land and water over a period of about 3 weeks. The character of our lakes is such that the light on them behaves very differently—most are surrounded by hills and forests. Depending on the spot the grebes chose, good sunlight could last until about 30 minutes before sunset, or they might slip into the shade two hours before it, or anything in between. "In between" means being in the shade with a very bright background, being in the sun against a very dark background, or hiding in a completely shaded area.
Best regards, Michal (and Wanda).
P.S. All images are resized to 2048p @longer edge.
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Sep 13, 2026 at 08:37 AM
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