Wildlife Photography : Photographing Great Crested Grebes

Join me as I set out to photograph and film the wonderful courting display of the Great Crested Grebe in Co Wicklow, Ireland.

Wildlife Photography of waterbirds is best undertaken with a hide such as the Tragopan V6. Lie on the ground to be level with your subject and use a bean bag or ground pod. Alternatively, a tripod mounted Manfrotto 502 video head results in smooth video footage.

The Great Crested Grebe courtship display was documented by Julian Huxley in 1914 in Hertfordshire, UK. The grebes display in early spring on suitable lakes and reservoirs.

0:00 Drone INTRO
00:41 Narrative of courtship display and Julian Huxley background
05:00 Hide Set Up and dawn trip to Hide
07:55 In the hide - preparing to photograph
09:12 Video Footage of Grebes
13:27 Conclusion and Still Photographs

Wildlife Photography Equipment:
Camera Equipment:
Nikon 400mm 2.8 FL
Nikon TC 1.4 III
Nikon TC 2
Nikon D850

Tripod:
Manfrotto 055 Carbon Fibre
Manfrotto MVH502AH Video Head
Groundpod
Manfrotto 393 Heavy Telephoto Lens Support For Monopod

Hide:
Tragopan V6

Vlogging:
Sony RX100 V
Zoom H2N
ZHIYUN Crane M2

[Peter]

Fabulous work Jimmy - you're a legend - love your vlogs Cheers

[SimplyStunningBirds]

Beautiful footage and a wonderfully arranged short film of this elegant courtship display!

[candaceroberts]

Lovely, it’s always enchanting to watch to watch the mating dances. It is like a ballet.

[Pat-]

Lovely short film Jimmy thanks for sharing my friend ..Take care.

[jamesdecross]

Lovely mist, light and behaviour. Compositionally, I'd like to see a little more of the scenery above the water.

[jwmm]

Hey Jimmy, just came across your video while researching more on the Great Crested Grebe, at my local lake here in Finland I was lucky to witness a very similar dance all be it the quality of my video is not as good, i did however happen to get a close up shot or a third grebe that was looking on at the other two. he/she didnt seem to bothered by my presence. They are a fascinating bird to watch.

[claireedwards]

Beautiful vlog Jimmy. Cracking photos at the end. They are beautiful majestic birds, great to see you got to witness the full courtship. It looked like there was another pair in the background also courting, love was certainly on the lake that morning 😊

[cathalbierney]

Great footage / images Jimmy, been watching the same pairs myself over the last couple of weeks so fantastic to see your results and the little history lesson... look forward to the updates or next vid 👍 quality!

[antonoat]

That was wonderful, I’ve spent many, many hours in years gone by doing similar to you, it’s so exciting and rewarding to photograph and film, getting everything right takes a lot of luck re weather, light, no external disturbances etc, etc, did I mention patience ? lol. Great film .

[Howdedoda]

Hi Jimmy, great video. Can you tell me this location in Wicklow please?

[a.d.c.]

Very Nicely filmed & a beautiful place too and two pairs of grebes wow! Background music & whispering was a minus though to be honest.

[jonnyanderson]

Fantastic footage! I myself one would like to record their courtship display in a number of environmental weather conditions. I’ve got a few in mind but it take a unthinkable amount of patience and relentless amount of planning. Something I’m hoping to start doing once this pandemic is over and I can start to learn to drive. 🙄🤷🏻‍♂️😎👊🤪

[malaustwick]

Great vlog Jimmy. But like others have said, your background music actually spoils it as the viewer struggles to hear what you are saying when you are whispering!
I think I will have missed the GCG's doing their thing due to lockdown and my location to theirs over here in North Yorkshire!! There's always next year 👍🏻

[CamillaI]

Great footage haven't seen two pairs on the same lake dancing before well done ! Lovely video subscribed ! 👍😀

[stephanandersen]

Nice video, but when you wisper - turn off the background music, it is impossible to hear what you say.

[djfree]

Jimmy well constructed and informative video, but playing loud music over your whispered commentary makes it next to useless and a waste of all the work you have put in. Look forward to seeing more of your videos with better audio.

[adstoop]

Wow what a great place to be. Jimmy I want to put you on the trail of another photographer who is taking photos similar to what you would like to do in this video now. It's Trond Westby. Take a look at his YouTube channel. There crazy pictures and the way. Definitely worth a look. Curious about your opinion?

[neilcole]

My wife reckons Darwin is wrong and it’s definitely…..love!😂

[michaelcaselli]

Enjoy the video but can’t hear you speaking.