Great crested grebes and swans hatched

Last week it was the black-necked grebes, this week it's the turn of the great crested grebes to show off their newly-hatched young. Much to my surprise. Firstly - much early than last year (one pairs' eggs hatched around 10 June, the other pairs' hatched on 1 July). Secondly - a large brood - five chicks (last year it was four and three respectively).

Below: mother and chicks - not sitting on mum's back - but then carrying five is a big task. As soon as they're ready, they're off and in the water, parents close at hand to feed and protect them.

Below: both parents and three little ones, the rest following on out of shot.

Below: mother gathers them all in...

Below: father surfaces with a morsel for one of the five... these are testing times for evolutionary biology. Can the female find a mate fit enough to keep coming up with the food needed to keep the entire brood alive? Which of the chicks will fight hard enough to get more than its fair share of the food being provided.

Below: further on towards the north end of the ponds, I catch my first sight of this year's clutch of cygnets, a day or two old, following their mother out of the rushes, in which lies the nest where they were hatched.

Below: a better view of the flotilla. Seven today - seven last year. But of last year's seven, only four survived. Which ones won't survive this year? Let's hope they all do well.

Below: dad identifies himself as 2KC1, back again. This couple have been coming here each year since they were juveniles. He doesn't feed the young (unlike the flesh-eating grebes, where the young aren't yet smart enough to catch small fish or larvae, the cygnets eat vegetation, and have litte trouble feeding themselves as soon as they are hatched). Nor does he swim in close formation to the brood; he's happy sunning himself, watching his family from a distance.

This time last year:
The year of the grebe
[the black-necked grebe chicks hatched a week earlier this year]

This time two years ago:
Jeziorki birds in the late May sunshine

This time three years ago:
Making sense of Andrzej Duda's win

This time four years ago:
Call it what it is: Okęcie

This time five years ago:
Three stations in need of repair

This time six years ago
Late evening, Śródmieście

This time seven years ago:
Ranking a better life

This time nine years ago:
Paysages de Varsovie

This time ten years ago:
Spring walk, twilight time