Great Crested Grebe - Podiceps cristatu
Canon 600mm f5.6 for 1/800th @ iso500
If this photograph had a caption "Rejection" would be a perfect fit. The female had been sleeping amongst the weed, which has come up in the bay over the last week, and this area of water is now full of carp, mooching about in the shallows and maybe waiting to spawn in the warm shallow water. The male bird arrived from the main lake and there was a cursory head bobbing session between the birds, hardly a full on session and both birds where some distance from each other whilst doing this. The male bird (on the right) then proceeded to collect copious amounts of weed and presented them to the female bird. When I say presented them to her, I mean dump them on her and collecting more weed he proceeded to flick his head to throw the clumps of weed at her at her !!! He then dived and brought up a stick and literally threw that at her, the stick landing on her back, with the light dipping and f5.6 only achieving 1/800th of second I captured the "throwing" of the stick but the beak of the bird is blurred. All this time the female bird looked away from the male, as for the stick across her back she removed it and gave it him back, he grabbed at the stick and for the moment there was some pushing of the stick with both birds holding on to it, as she attempted to pass it back and he tried to get her to take the stick. In the end the male bird made some "clucking" sounds and dived into the weeds and was off into the main lake - rejected.
If this photograph had a caption "Rejection" would be a perfect fit. The female had been sleeping amongst the weed, which has come up in the bay over the last week, and this area of water is now full of carp, mooching about in the shallows and maybe waiting to spawn in the warm shallow water. The male bird arrived from the main lake and there was a cursory head bobbing session between the birds, hardly a full on session and both birds where some distance from each other whilst doing this. The male bird (on the right) then proceeded to collect copious amounts of weed and presented them to the female bird. When I say presented them to her, I mean dump them on her and collecting more weed he proceeded to flick his head to throw the clumps of weed at her at her !!! He then dived and brought up a stick and literally threw that at her, the stick landing on her back, with the light dipping and f5.6 only achieving 1/800th of second I captured the "throwing" of the stick but the beak of the bird is blurred. All this time the female bird looked away from the male, as for the stick across her back she removed it and gave it him back, he grabbed at the stick and for the moment there was some pushing of the stick with both birds holding on to it, as she attempted to pass it back and he tried to get her to take the stick. In the end the male bird made some "clucking" sounds and dived into the weeds and was off into the main lake - rejected.