For the past week or thereabouts, a Black-necked grebe (Podiceps nigricollis) has been making its home in the middle of Cardiff Bay, visible to those well versed in identifying distant specks of black and white through their telescopes but not so easy for the likes of me, deficient in those skills and with old eyes and mere binoculars. However, I did wonder if perhaps the battering and raging of Storm Isha overnight last Sunday might have encouraged the grebe to shelter close to the western side of the Bay.

And I was right! There it was, with a large flock of Tufted ducks, a few Goosander, Coots, Mallards and a couple of Gadwall, and several of its grebe cousin the Great cresteds. With the Red-necked grebe still present on Cardiff’s northern reservoirs, it’s a real treat to have another rare grebe visitor this year already.

The BTO (British Trust for Ornithology) website says that, on average, just 115 birds overwinter in Britain, and some 50-odd pairs breed here, though they are both secretive and mostly kept secret, so as to prevent interference with this amber-listed beauty. I would certainly not want to disturb their breeding but I would love to see one of these grebes in its summer plumage – it’s a far cry from the smudgy black and white our local rare visitor is currently sporting. (The Bird Guides website has a page that provides excellent information and includes stunning images of all our local grebes in both winter and summer plumage).