A pair of Little Grebes brighten up the gloom of the past few days

Robins are possibly our tamest garden birds

The other day I wandered up the island to see if I could spot a nuthatch that's been visiting gardens in the lagoon. I did catch sight of it as it flew away from a bird feeder with a whole peanut in its beak but it then flew off, probably back to Bushy Park. Instead this robin posed for me so my trip wasn't completely wasted. I shall make an effort over the next few weeks to get an image of the nuthatch as they are colourful visitors to our gardens.

One of a pair of dabchicks

On Boxing Day a friend mentioned that she'd seen a tiny 'duckling sized' water bird. She said she had thrown out some bread for it but that it had dived and disappeared so I guessed it was probably a little grebe, commonly known as a dabchick. The next day I spotted one on the far side of the river and for a few days it turned up between 8.00am and 10.00am, diving for fish along the Molesey bank. Occasionally it would risk crossing over to our side and I was lucky enough to catch a few glimpses of it as it swam past. Dabchicks are very shy birds and usually dive at the first sign of movement so I didn't dare open the French windows but decided to at least take some grab shots through the glass if the opportunity arose.

A second dabchick appeared for several days

After several days of watching and waiting I spotted a pair of dabchicks swimming across the river. They appear to have felt more secure than normal as they mingled with the tufted ducks, mallards, mandarin ducks and coots. Perhaps they felt there was safety in numbers? They hung around for several days but I've seen neither of them today.

Torrential rain might be a deterrent as the water drops falling from the branches of overhanging trees opposite are almost as big as the dabchicks themselves! I've often noticed how 'rain averse' ducks can be during persistent downpours. They all swim over to the far bank and shelter under the overhanging vegetation.

Dabchick refuses to be intimidated by Lonely

I could hardly believe my eyes yesterday when I watched the dabchick clamber on to the plank of one of the duck nesting boxes. Grebes in general are superb at swimming and diving but are ungainly on land as their legs are set well back on their bodies. This little one clambered onto the plank but soon slid down as it was wet and slippery. Undeterred it climbed back on and edged its way sideways quite some way up the ramp. Then it lay down and spent the next ten minutes preening. I saw it pull out a loose feather and swallow it - they sometimes do this as an aid to digestion. After a while, Lonely wandered up the plank as she considers this to be her nesting box and I watched with bated breath as the dabchick edged as close to the entrance to the nest box as possible, then turned and faced down Lonely. She seemed rather bemused at the lack of respect from such a tiny creature and, after staring at the dabchick for several minutes she turned and jumped off the plank.

I nearly missed a dental appointment because I couldn't drag myself away from such unexpected behaviour. It was delightful enough to be able to watch a little grebe at close quarters, albeit through the bedroom window, but to see it investigate the nest box and then watch it preen just six feet away was very special - a ten minutes well spent!

The river had begun to freeze over last week

Last week I was beginning to believe that the river would freeze over again. The lagoon had been frozen and the river itself was beginning to ice up but now heavy rain has been falling with only occasional spots of sleet/snow from time to time.

Friday, 12.00 midday, minutes after publishing this blog, the rain stopped and two dabchicks swam past the window when I was least expecting them!