Grebes etc. at Sam Smith Park

[Brian Bailey]

I was checking on the progress of the Red-necked Grebes at Sam Smith Park yesterday evening.  The first 2 nest sites were abandoned:  the one on the east side was washed-out (again) and the one on the south side was also abandoned.  I suspect it has just become too high out of the water as the lake level has gone down.  There are now two nesting rafts in use.  The pair using the one near the mouth of the harbour are very active.  They had 2 eggs before the nest was washed out by a boat wave last week.  Yesterday, the rebuilt nest had one egg visible.  There's also some half-hearted nest building at the raft on the south side.  I started a gallery here to document their progress.  No works of art there:  I'm using a 300mm lens and keeping my distance. (lots of cropping) They have enough challenges without me sticking a lens in their face.  There are at least 5 pairs of grebes hanging around the park, so we could still see more nest attempts.

A surprise find yesterday was a male Greater Scaup off the east side.  There have also been an unusually large number of Common Terns there the last couple of weeks.

BB

[MEGHAN]

Thanks for the update Brian. I look forward to more photos and info from you.
They are persistant, hard working birds so hopefully they are successful this year.
Great job on the photos.

Meghan

[dizzy]

Nicely done. Photos are great. Thanks so much for the update. So many obstacles for these little guys.  I echo Meghan's comment, I hope there is success.

Mike

[Leslie Kinrys]

My husband and I were at Sam Smith today. We saw one pair of grebes on a nesting raft in the yacht harbour. Another pair was on the lake side. They were "singing" to each other. They would come close together and hold their heads high. Another nice find was a female Hooded Merganser in the pond area.

[ravynne40]

Great shots Brian, they try so hard to build their nests, since I have been birding (2 yrs now) I am realizing what a feat this is for them.
Everyone always tells me,"maybe this year"...lets' keep our fingers crossed!

[Brian Bailey]

Visiting the park this evening, I found lots of nest building activity at "nest #4" and 2 eggs visible.  A pair has started to build on the last unused raft, and there was a large non-egg on "nest #2".

I have updated the gallery.

BB

[Brian Bailey]

I surveyed the nests again this evening after a week away.  It looks highly unlikely there will be any breeding success this year.  Nests 3 & 4 are now abandoned with no sign of eggs.  There was one bird hanging around at the third raft (nest #5) but there has been very little nest building in the past week unless it has fallen apart and is being rebuilt again.

I have no idea what interactions with humans, pets or wildlife may have caused the nest failures, so I'd be interested in any observations others may have.  I know boat waves have been a problem, but they wouldn't appear to be the cause for the last failures at nests 3 & 4 since the nests are still intact.

BB

[lovemypt]

Hi Brian

 I am not sure about your numbering series but I saw a pair sitting and guarding their nest on the site on the closet east end of the marina area on Sunday morning early along the main pathway. The one on the nest seemed to be quite content to remain there but the parent never stood up or moved off to see if there were any eggs

Dave

[Brian Bailey]

That would be "Nest 5".  In the gallery I numbered them in the order they were established.  Here's the map:


Nests 3, 4, and 5 are on rafts put out by the TRCA.  The natural sites where established much earlier, showing the birds had a clear preference for them even though they were much more vulnerable to predation and changing water levels.

BB

[ravynne40]

Wow is this the first time we have had this many nests in the area? just curious and I think its great the more nests the more chance of young.

[Brian Bailey]

The first documented nest of Red-necked Grebes in Toronto was in Sam Smith Park in (I think) 2008.  It was not successful, but they laid eggs.  The TRCA put in a couple of nest rafts in 2009, but they were unsuccessful as well.  They tried a new design of raft last year and there were 3 nesting attempts but still no success.  This year has seen the most prolonged nesting activity and the most nest attempts.

BB