Great Crested Grebe Photo: © Colin Mucklow (visit site)

The Great Crested Grebe is the commonest grebe to be encountered in Guernsey's offshore waters. The recovery in numbers and subsequent range expansion in Britain following its persecution in Victorian times has been remarkable. At least 8,000 are believed to winter in Britain. At one point the population had fallen to only 42 pairs. Its current distribution has benefited from the creation of man made habitats such as gravel pits and shallow reservoirs. Numbers in local waters vary from year to year with occasional influxes almost certainly a result of cold weather movements. The species has been reported breeding close to the Normandy coast around Granville.

The majority of reports come from the North and East coasts with Belle Greve Bay being the prime site. Flocks of up to 10 birds are not uncommon although numbers have declined from the seventies. There are also sporadic inland records from the Reservoir and Saumarez Park. Birds start arriving in mid-November with distinct peaks in early February and the first part of March. Numbers then decline with very few records in May. The latest spring report was of a single bird at the Reservoir from the 28th May to the 1st June 1994.

Although the species does not breed in the Islands observers are sometimes lucky enough to see pair formation display amongst the birds present.