A surprise this morning were two very small Australasian Grebe chicks with
parent on a dam about 1 km along the SW track of Cooleman Ridge (starting at the
end of Kathner St Chapman). While two adults have been here since at
least 28 January, apart from plumage there had been no indication that breeding
was happening, and even a careful search this morning could only identify one
spot where a nest might possibly have been. This is in contrast to their
abandoned attempt last October when the nest site was very clear. Perhaps
the high human traffic (dogs often swim here) taught them to conceal the
nest? Another possibility was that they came overland from the bigger dam
about 500 m away, but I suspect the chicks were still too young.
Another surprise was no sign of the other parent, which was followed by a
further surprise, two adults in breeding plumage and showing some courtship
behaviour on the dam about 500 m further down the track. They’ve not been
present there this breeding season, but have built nests there and possibly bred
successfully here in some previous years, but it is very rare to see this
species on more than one dam at a time.
It was tempting to speculate the male had moved dams to pick up with
another female, but the relatively brief 1990 entry in HANZAB indicates that the
pair bond is maintained for at least one breeding cycle, and that both parents
tend the young, usually until the young are independent. At any rate
another example in what seems to have been a very good breeding season for this
species.
Jack Holland
