ONE of the beauties of living on the shores of Lough Erne is that you don’t have to rely on TV shows like ‘Springwatch’ for your wildlife entertainment.

I was lucky enough to witness such a show recently from around 10 metres away, and a real show it was!

I often walk along the shores of Lough Erne; its natural beauty is generally a great feast for the eyes.

Being largely unspoiled, there is an abundance of wildlife, and today's 'show' was from the Great Crested Grebes with their new family.

Once hunted for their ‘Grebe Fur’, the fine feathers from their chest were used for Victorian ladies fashion – they were nearly hunted to extinction, but have since made steady recoveries through conservation.

There are now around 2,500 adult birds currently in Ireland, so, they're not common – but if you’re observant you can often spot them.

Although generally a shy bird, they always keep a good distance away from human activities, but as with most birds, with new arrivals these rules are often broken and you can generally get a bit closer with a bit of luck.

The feeding of four hungry juveniles is quite a feat, especially when the diet is fresh fish.

Being able to observe these birds, it was really fascinating watching their habits, whilst obviously not getting so close as to frighten or make them move away.

The mother bird stays guarding her chicks while the male bird goes off a bit further away, hunting.

Being the diving birds that they are, a good eye and a dagger-like beak serves their purpose very well.

I was quite surprised by the size of the fish he came up with, and then noticed as he surfaced with a small bream in his beak that he was still able to call the brood with a ‘Gorr Gorr’ noise, and the mother bird seemed to alert the chicks that 'dad’ had a treat for them nearby.

They all swam up to him with the chicks racing ahead, and it was the survival of the fittest as the first chick to get to him got the reward.

The next time he dived and came up with a fish, a black-headed gull was also alerted by the Grebes's calls and joined to attack for a free meal.

This became a protracted affair, with the grebe repeatedly diving when the gull came in close, to protect the precious catch for the chick.

After surfacing three times, he managed to get the fish to the chick, and although the gull was nearby, any mistake would enable it to capitalize upon and gain a free meal.

It was great to watch the family of six working as a team and it always amazes me the devotion any birds have to providing food for their young.

On this occasion, the healthy fish stocks of the Erne help to preserve this beautiful diving bird and its family.