Aftermath

[paulthomas]

Visited one of my local nature reserves, Croxall Lakes, this morning to find that the water level has risen about a foot since Sunday. This means that the Great Crested Grebe's nest I've watching has been drowned The pair were busily attempting to build a new nest just above the new water line and they've only lost about a week. All the sandbars and sandy parts of the shore are submerged which is going to be problematic for many wader. Over on the scapes, the Lapwings seem to have deserted the place and there's no sign of the Little Ringed Plovers either. All in all it seems to have been a rough couple of days for many birds.

[Wild-Woman]

I'm very sorry to hear about the problems the birds are having to deal with on your reserve. Nature is cruel sometimes. I do feel that the freaky weather conditions in parts of the country must be connected to global warming in some way. Sadly, we need this water desperately especially where I live in the south East. Most of our rivers are suffering awful problems, effecting the food chains of the birds that need the invertebrates and amphibian supply.I hope your grebes can re-establish a nest successfully. Please let us know. ww

[eeyore]

We've had a similar experience here, but it validates the hard work we put into building our loafing rafts, these of course float so the ternery has survived the deluge unscathed.

[paulthomas]

I've managed to get up the reserve eery day to observe how the wildlife adjusts. The Great Crested Grebes have rebuilt their nest and the famle is now sitting The rise in the water level has been a bonus to another pair of GCGs who had, so far, been unable to find a nest site. They're now nesting amongst the branches of a now partially submerged bush. I spend a good while yesterday evening watching them add to the nest to get it just right.

The Lapwings put in a vrief appearance on Wednesday but didn't stay. No sign of them yesterday. But this afternoon they returned and the male was performing his display flight. I don't think they've given up No sign of any Little Ringed Plovers yet though.

All-ina-- it's been a good opportunity to study how the wildlife respond to such natural events.

[Jonny]

We had the opposite happen on the reserve near here. Southern water drained the lake of a foot of water and the gr cr grebes nest was left high and dry. I should of got a photo. All was ok though and the lake soon refilled anyway...................Jon

[paulthomas]

It'll be interesting to see how the grebes here cope as the water level starts to drop. I'm hoping that the nests will be OK and all that will happen is the chicks will need to do a little jump into the water.

[Jonny]

Originally Posted by paulthomas

It'll be interesting to see how the grebes here cope as the water level starts to drop. I'm hoping that the nests will be OK and all that will happen is the chicks will need to do a little jump into the water.

Yeah, they will be ok...............Jon

[Bushcraft]

That's a shame but sadly often happens. The idiots at Essex and Suffolk water pumped the reservoir with a few extra feet of water the other year just as the eggs were about to hatch, I needn't say what happened to them ALL!