Grebe on the nest | Feathered Friends - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 157

Hello, friends.
Last May I vacationed on Lake Naroch in Belarus. This was the time when most birds were busy hatching or feeding their chicks. Walking along the shore, I observed this important period in the life of birds. Not far from the shore, in the sedge thickets, a small colony of grebe ducks has settled. Females mostly sat on nests.

The bird's scientific Latin name, Podiceps cristatus, translates to "Crested".

In Russian, the great grebe is called “Bolshaya poganka”. This very beautiful bird received its Russian name not for its appearance, but for the repulsive smell of rotten fish emanating from its meat. This feature protects this species of duck from the attacks of hunters and the great grebe has little fear of humans.

The great grebe spends almost its entire life in the water, it is reluctant to fly, and even less likes to go ashore. Swift and maneuverable on the water, on land the grebe moves slowly and clumsily; on the shore this bird is especially vulnerable to its natural enemies. While on the ground, the grebe's body takes on a vertical position, and it becomes like a penguin.

The great grebe's nest is built from the vegetation that is in the reservoir, most often from reeds. The nest itself resembles a raft and is usually attached to aquatic plants. When the female grebes are sitting on the nest, the male continues to bring various twigs to the nest so that the female can cover the clutch of eggs with them when she leaves the nest to eat.

The first photo is submitted for participation in Feathered Friends - Show Me A Photo Contest Round 157 by @nelinoeva
The last photo submitted for participation in PhotoFeed Contest - Wildlife Photography Round 69 by @photofeed
Camera: Nikon 1 S1
Location: Belarus, Lake Naroch
Friends, thank you for your attention, see you soon.
Best regards @irvet