The great crested grebe duckling with its characteristic striped head perched on its parent’s back.

The Great Crested Grebe

Feeding and Breeding in Scandinavia

Swimming in the shallow waters of the Copenhagen lakes

On my way home from the city last evening, I spotted a great crested grebe family.

The duckling examines the hunting parent’s beak for any fish tidbits.

I began to take some photos and was rewarded beyond my wildest dreams by an astonishing dinnertime performance by Mr and Mrs Podiceps Cristatus caring for their juvenile.

The grebe gourmet take-out parent

Left, the parent, an expert fisher, catches a little fish, center, proffers it to the juvenile who eagerly cranes its neck out for the anticipated tidbit and right, transfer accomplished.

Left, swimming on its own. Right, the rust-coloured plumage burns bright in the late afternoon sun.

Second course. Also fish.

Family means everything for this duckling, warmth and protection from one parent, food and sustenance from the other.

The parents appear to be communicating here. I wonder what they’re saying. Right, the curved neck of the grebe leans back into a laid-back swim.

Thank you for reading.

Click the green heart below to catapult me into a paroxyism of ecstacy.

All original photos. All rights reserved.

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