Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis

This is the, very cute, Little Grebe - Tachybaptus ruficollis - also known as the Dabchick, which, at 9 to 11.5 inches (23-29cm) long is the smallest of the European Grebe family. A quite shy bird it often remains out of sight hiding in waterside vegetation and if it feels threatened when on a rare trip into open water, will quickly dive and only surface unseen some distance away. Because it is such a great diver and underwater swimmer, its feet are placed towards the back of the body making it rather clumsy on land, which is why it spends most of its its life on the water only coming ashore to breed and occasionally eat. Even its nest is built on the water, using waterweed to make a floating platform. This one was seen in its summer breeding colours at Pennington Flash, Leigh, Lancashire.

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