I came across the Surfsee (surf lake) through a local Facebook photo group. II have no idea why it’s called that, because I can’t imagine surfing there. All sorts of birds seemed to be there and even an eagle had appeared. Thanks to Paolo I found the lake, with no eagle, but with lots of people and quite a few animals. Among them was this great crested grebe with its begging offspring. They weren’t difficult to find, because the little one was begging loudly – it was more difficult to get a good photo of the two and I was a bit clumsy that day, which was also due to the lack of time, and scared them away. It’s been a good three weeks now and I hope I can get back to the surf lake soon – then I’ll get in touch with you, Paolo.
While the heron tends to move around with a gentle flap of its wings, it takes out the smallest and fastest animals when hunting: mice, frogs, hamsters… but it’s not called the “Fischreiher” (fish heron) in German for nothing, as it actually lives on banks and floodplains. The increased rainfall and resulting floods in recent years have created new wetlands – both voluntary and involuntary – and the heron population has increased significantly.
The big guy I was watching here took at least one fish out of the water during the 20 minutes and came away empty-handed twice.
