Hoary-headed Grebe breeding at Lake Elterwater

Bird sighting information. Use this forum to report bird sightings (especially rare and unusual birds), census and field count results, and trip reports. Messages posted to this forum will also be sent as a plain text email to the BIRDING-NZ newsgroup.
User avatar
Michael Szabo
Posts: 2533
Joined: Sun May 08, 2011 12:30 pm
Contact:

Hoary-headed Grebe breeding at Lake Elterwater

Postby Michael Szabo » Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:08 pm

Scott Brooks reports seeing two juvenile Hoary-headed Grebes with two adults at Lake Elterwater on 18 November.

Link to photo of juvenile with adult: https://scontent.fpmr1-1.fna.fbcdn.net/ ... e=5E46DD2C
'Birds New Zealand' Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/Birdsnewzealand
User avatar
ourspot
Posts: 349
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:24 pm
Location: Tutukaka Coast

Re: Hoary-headed Grebe breeding at Lake Elterwater

Postby ourspot » Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:30 pm

Had 3 visits to Lake Elterwater with my son Zef during the last week with cracking views each time of the Hoary-headed Grebe right by the platform or fossicking, feeding and diving in the dead willows to the left of the platform. The first visit was early morning with just one adult present. The second visit was late afternoon on 17 November when we saw 2 adults and 2 chicks, and heard them calling quite a bit. Watched them for a good hour before they vanished around the back of the trees. Most of the calling was coming from a dense area of floating plants to the left of the platform about 5 meters from the shoreline so possible the nest is somewhere in there. The third visit also early morning and was just one adult again though there was calling from the bush area.

Very pleased with the sightings as this was bird number 200 for me :)
Hoary-headed Grebe_Lake Elterwater_Nov19_FB_IMG_8732.jpg
Hoary-headed Grebe_Lake Elterwater_Nov19_FB_IMG_8732.jpg (517.23 KiB) Viewed 2239 times
Hoary-headed Grebe_Lake Elterwater_Nov19_FB_IMG_8735.jpg
Hoary-headed Grebe_Lake Elterwater_Nov19_FB_IMG_8735.jpg (489.94 KiB) Viewed 2239 times
Hoary-headed Grebe_Lake Elterwater_Nov19_FB_IMG_8751.jpg
Hoary-headed Grebe_Lake Elterwater_Nov19_FB_IMG_8751.jpg (477.31 KiB) Viewed 2239 times
Last edited by ourspot on Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:15 am, edited 1 time in total.
wazzagonewild
Posts: 139
Joined: Mon Jun 25, 2018 9:33 pm

Re: Hoary-headed Grebe breeding at Lake Elterwater

Postby wazzagonewild » Thu Nov 21, 2019 3:50 pm

Congrats Scott on 200 species and the lovely photos! I was at Elterwater on Fri 15th November and saw a pair of adult hoary-headed grebes at the far northern end of the lake, but with no juveniles. I'm wondering if this may be a seperate pair, as the bill shape of one of the adults is quite different from the photos you have posted, with a distinct lobe on the ventral side of the bill (see pic below). Did you happen to notice anything like this for one of the adult grebes?
P1110573.JPG
P1110573.JPG (465.34 KiB) Viewed 2233 times
User avatar
ourspot
Posts: 349
Joined: Wed Jun 01, 2016 10:24 pm
Location: Tutukaka Coast

Re: Hoary-headed Grebe breeding at Lake Elterwater

Postby ourspot » Fri Nov 22, 2019 8:07 am

Thanks Warwick :) We were there on the morning of the 15th so must have just missed you.

I believe there are more adults on the lake (based on past eBird reports) so it could well be another pair - be great if they bred as well. The Hoarys we saw just stayed close to the clump of plants I mentioned (where I think the nest might be) or within the dead trees to the left. On the day I saw the chicks, the adults were actively feeding them the whole time. The nor wester wind may have been a factor as to why they were hanging in that area (and why all the shovelers roosted by the platform), but I did hear lots of calling around those bushes and they always seemed to appear from that area.
Mark Sutton
Posts: 1
Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2019 2:24 pm

Re: Hoary-headed Grebe breeding at Lake Elterwater

Postby Mark Sutton » Fri Dec 13, 2019 2:40 pm

3 adults plus 1 (possibly 2) well grown juvs present today, from platform.

Return to “Bird Sightings and Alerts”