Australasian Grebe Activity on a Flood-retarding Basin.

The article presents observations of the breeding activity of Australasian Grebes Tachybaptus novaehollandiae on a flood-retarding basin at the Clayton campus on Monash University in Melbourne, Victoria from 2002-10. Two Grebes built nests in the bulrushes at the western end of the basin from 2006-06 and another two Grebes built a nest among the waterweeds in the northwestern section in 2008 but was destroyed by heavy overnight rain and a rise in water level. One adult and three young birds were seen from March 6-April 22, 2008 and by November 2, 2008 a pair had nested in the bulrushes. Usually one and sometimes two new adult Grebes, in breeding plumage, were present during the second and third weeks of March 2009. Three groups of two Grebes remain intact in April 2009.