And then there were Four

Spent the morning on the garden project, thankfully in dry conditions, despite the warnings of heavy showers.  We even managed a walk after lunch along the canal that makes up the main feature of the local nature reserve.  

The Little grebe was again on the nest, and as happened on Thursday as soon as we walked towards her she vacated the nest and dived under the water.  While you always worry about predation, she had actually increased the number of eggs from two to four! I'm going to keep an eye on the nest over the next few weeks, to see how she does.  Ideally it would be good to find a vantage point that didn't disturb her, but the other side of the canal at this point is quite impenetrable with bramble and nettles.  

I'm also interested to see how quickly the eggs hatch after laying.  I was fascinated to come across some field notes from the 1930s of observations, which suggests the incubation period is about 25 days.  If you get a chance it is wonderful to read the detail of the observations.