A pair of crested grebes have started a family on Lake Hāwea for the first time. Last Sunday (November 22) two eggs were discovered on their man-made nesting platform on the inlet beside the ANZAC memorial at the Lake Hāwea dam.

While grebes have been spotted on the lake in the past, particularly near The Neck, this was the first time a breeding pair had built a nest, Amie Capell said.

Amie is a member of the Guardians of Lake Hāwea and she was the first to see the pair struggling to build a nest at the inlet on November 11.

As an aquatic species, grebes can barely walk so they design and build their nests to float on the water but “the spot the birds had chosen to nest in was far from desirable,” she said.

She advised the Guardians who decided to call on local grebe expert John Darby to provide guidance on how best to encourage the birds to nest safely.

John, who has been monitoring the grebe population on Lake Wānaka for years and was aware of grebes attempting and failing to nest successfully on Lake Hāwea, was surprised where this pair had chosen to nest.

Wanaka-based grebe expert John Darby monitors the local grebe population by kayak. PHOTO: Supplied.

The nest site was the most poorly developed he’d ever come across and immediately suggested replacing it with a more sturdy man-made nesting platform. 

“My intention had been to place their newly created nest on the platform. There was little need of that and within minutes of us withdrawing the birds were clearly more interested in our creation than their own efforts,” he said

In fact, so appealing was the new nest, the grebes immediately took up residence - just in the nick of time as a wind got up that same day (November 13) and destroyed their original nest. 

Since then, John has returned to Lake Hāwea to monitor the birds and last Sunday discovered the nest contained two eggs, suggesting a hatching date of mid December. John said he suspects there may be more eggs to come and plans to return midweek to check the nest.  

John has been monitoring the local southern crested grebe population for years. He said this season has been a bit of a disaster in Wanaka. He had been monitoring eight pairs with eggs successfully nesting at the marina but their nests were destroyed by last Saturday’s (November 21) gale force winds.

Southern crested grebes, which John describes as “a very elegant and beautiful bird but also very complicated”, are considered a rare and threatened species, found only in small populations on lakes in the South Island.

In 2014, a count of grebes on Lake Wanaka revealed a maximum of six breeding pairs, he said, but four years later another survey discovered 52 birds on Stevensons Arm alone.

A recreational whitewater kayaker for many decades, John learned he could observe the birds more closely from the water and began to encourage the birds to breed by building floating nesting platforms which could rise and fall with the change in lake levels. The platforms he’s built are commonly seen near Wanaka’s marina.

Amie hopes locals wanting to watch Lake Hāwea’s nesting birds heed the makeshift signs the Guardians have erected asking people and their pets to keep a respectful and peaceful distance. The birds are “fascinating to watch” but can be easily disturbed, especially by dogs, she said. 

The Guardians are now considering establishing further man-made nesting platforms up near The Neck, she said.