ITâS up, itâs upâquick! Oh, no, itâs dived again.â 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 UKâs 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 âarse-footâ for some species. How-ever, this extreme foot position provides an extra-powerful âoutboard motorâ 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 groupsâ 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 otherâs 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.
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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
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Night Thoughts by Howard Hodgkin
Charlotte Mullins comments on Moght Thoughts
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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
True blues
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