Dive in with both feet
Country Life UK|August 21, 2024
Do you know your great crested grebe from your little grebe? Your red-throated from your great northern diver? Marianne Taylor gets to grips with these masters of the underwater world
Dive in with both feet

IT’S up, it’s up—quick! Oh, no, it’s dived again.’ Such is the lament of the birdwatcher attempting to point out a diver or grebe to a companion. Whether the subject is a stately great northern diver floating off a picture-perfect Hebridean beach or a diminutive black-necked grebe playing hide and seek among a flock of ducks in the deepest reaches of an Essex reservoir, the challenge is the same. These masters of the underwater world seem to shun the feeling of air on their feathers, such is their eagerness to immerse and immerse again.

Of all the UK’s waterbirds and seabirds, few are as well adapted to swim underwater as divers and grebes. Their stout legs, with webbed toes in divers and lobed in grebes, sit so far back on their bodies that they can barely walk or stand, hence the local nickname of ‘arse-foot’ for some species. How-ever, this extreme foot position provides an extra-powerful ‘outboard motor’ to drive their fast underwater fish-chases.

Divers and grebes are not closely related, as was once thought: divers are an early offshoot of the same lineage as penguins, whereas grebes count flamingos as their closest cousins. However, the two groups’ anatomy, ecology and behaviour are remarkably similar. Our three regularly seen diver species and five grebes nest on the edges and islands of lakes and are strongly monogamous, sharing incubation and care of the chicks, which can swim from hatching, but need to be fed for many weeks. Because of the commitment they will need from one another for a successful breeding season, the male and female rigorously test each other’s attentiveness, fitness and partnership skills through dramatic and often noisy displays, showing off their bright breeding colours. After breeding, they become drabber and quieter, with many dispersing to larger lakes or the sea.

この蚘事は Country Life UK の August 21, 2024 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

この蚘事は Country Life UK の August 21, 2024 版に掲茉されおいたす。

7 日間の Magzter GOLD 無料トラむアルを開始しお、䜕千もの厳遞されたプレミアム ストヌリヌ、9,000 以䞊の雑誌や新聞にアクセスしおください。

COUNTRY LIFE UKのその他の蚘事すべお衚瀺
Tales as old as time
Country Life UK

Tales as old as time

By appointing writers-in-residence to landscape locations, the National Trust is hoping to spark in us a new engagement with our ancient surroundings, finds Richard Smyth

time-read
2 分  |
November 13, 2024
Do the active farmer test
Country Life UK

Do the active farmer test

Farming is a profession, not a lifestyle choice’ and, therefore, the Budget is unfair

time-read
3 分  |
November 13, 2024
Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Country Life UK

Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin

Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts

time-read
2 分  |
November 13, 2024
SOS: save our wild salmon
Country Life UK

SOS: save our wild salmon

Jane Wheatley examines the dire situation facing the king of fish

time-read
3 分  |
November 13, 2024
Into the deep
Country Life UK

Into the deep

Beneath the crystal-clear, alien world of water lie the great piscean survivors of the Ice Age. The Lake District is a fish-spotter's paradise, reports John Lewis-Stempel

time-read
4 分  |
November 13, 2024
It's alive!
Country Life UK

It's alive!

Living, burping and bubbling fermented masses of flour, yeast and water that spawn countless loaves—Emma Hughes charts the rise and rise) of sourdough starters

time-read
4 分  |
November 13, 2024
There's orange gold in them thar fields
Country Life UK

There's orange gold in them thar fields

A kitchen staple that is easily taken for granted, the carrot is actually an incredibly tricky customer to cultivate that could reduce a grown man to tears, says Sarah Todd

time-read
3 分  |
November 13, 2024
True blues
Country Life UK

True blues

I HAVE been planting English bluebells. They grow in their millions in the beechwoods that surround us—but not in our own garden. They are, however, a protected species. The law is clear and uncompromising: ‘It is illegal to dig up bluebells or their bulbs from the wild, or to trade or sell wild bluebell bulbs and seeds.’ I have, therefore, had to buy them from a respectable bulb-merchant.

time-read
3 分  |
November 13, 2024
Oh so hip
Country Life UK

Oh so hip

Stay the hand that itches to deadhead spent roses and you can enjoy their glittering fruits instead, writes John Hoyland

time-read
4 分  |
November 13, 2024
A best kept secret
Country Life UK

A best kept secret

Oft-forgotten Rutland, England's smallest county, is a 'Notswold' haven deserving of more attention, finds Nicola Venning

time-read
3 分  |
November 13, 2024