Grebes in Focus
Great crested grebe are perhaps the most elegant of the water birds at Seven Lochs. With their decorative head plumes and elaborate mating dance these graceful fish-hunters are seen on all of the park’s lochs, with Hogganfield Loch offering the best opportunity see them up close.
At this time of year, you will see parents carrying their stripy-headed chicks on their back. Great crested grebe nest on rafts of floating vegetation, and at Hogganfield, Lochend and Garnqueen lochs we’ve installed floating wetland to make sure they have safe places to breed.
Grebes were once hunted for their fancy feathers, which were used in hat-making. This almost caused the UK population to be wiped out. In fact, some of the UK’s first nature reserves were set up to protect grebes from hunters.
Three other grebe species can be spotted at Seven Lochs. Little grebe, sometimes called dabchick, can be seen all year round, while the much rarer red-necked and Slavonian grebes visit the lochs in winter.
Photo of parent and chick at Hogganfield Loch by Brian Gallagher. For more fantastic photos in this series, please go to https://www.flickr.com/photos/bgallagher/albums/72177720326921417/with/54578324103