Dear Little Dabchick

I dropped into a hide at Tewin on the way John Lewis in Welwyn Garden City today.

A young man who had just taken up birding was inside, we had a nice chat and I was able to tell him where to go to see wildlife. When this little grebe swam into view I identified it for him. He said he thought it was a duckling. They're lovely fluffy little things, not much bigger than ducklings. They seem to ride high in the water and their rear ends are always ruffled.

I know them by the old-fashioned name of dabchick or dobchick. They are brilliant divers, dab or dob means to dive.

No sign of a weather bomb in Essex. Clear blue skies reflected in the water and the gold of the reeds catching the top of the ripples.

PS Tewin is in Hertfordshire.