Reflect on my magnificent crest....

I posted a pair of undecided grebes on 14th February - but what a difference a fortnight makes. Today all the great crested grebes in Ferry meadows seemed to have sex on their minds, and the lakes echoed with the braying call of the males, who were showing off to the females by swimming very fast low in the water with their necks extended. I spotted these two eyeing each other up, and waited behind a bush to see if they were going to display. I was rewarded for my patience, and got a good sequence of shots, showing the head bobbing display.

This image shows the amazing crest, which was so loved by Victorian milliners. In fact the RSPB was founded in 1889 by Emily Williamson at her house in Didsbury, Manchester as a protest group campaigning against the use of great crested grebe and kittiwake skins and feathers in clothing. Originally known as "the Plumage League", the group gained popularity and eventually amalgamated with the Fur and Feather League in Croydon, to form the RSPB.

Unfortunately the pair didn't progress to the full 'penguin dance', where both partners rise up out of the water chest-to-chest, but that gives me something to aim for another day. The full series of photographs can be seen here.