Uppie Denied
I often hear the family of Great Crested Grebes by the water long before I see them. The happy chirping of the chicks are unmistakable, and when I come down to the water I always see mommy Grebe and daddy Grebe and their two chicks doing, well, family stuff. I'm sorry for the anthropomorphization, and doubly sorry for probably completely misinterpreting animal behavior, but the similarities are just too great.
The adults are usually swimming around and diving for food, and the chicks... well, they do unmistakable kids stuff, like keeping their parents awake way beyond bedtime. Little Great Crested Grebes usually hang around on the back of their mom, safely and snugly nested between their wings, and peeking out over mom's shoulders.
One of the chicks wanted up on mom's back, but mom was having none of it. Evidently thinking that it was time for Grebe Jr to get some tough love and learn to pull their own weight, she arched up when the chick got too close.
Later, she swam in a tight circle while the chick tried to catch up.
I can't identify individual chicks, but I suspect that this chick, just like the one above, learned that while mom and dad won't carry them everywhere any more, they get to stay up late!
