Great Crested Grebe

New Zealand Bird of the Century ‘Puteketeke’
They are q rare and threatened native species. Extinct in the North Island and not doing so well in the south. When this conservation programme began in 2013 it was estimated that there were fewer than 600 survived and numbers were continuing to decline. To compensate the stormy weather and nests to close to the shoreline [near predators] manmade nests were built. The secret to success was to convince the birds to use them. By building the best nests that any grebe could dream of, they found that the birds readily accepted them. They have now had over 500 chicks that have fledged over this 10 year period, a great success.
Here is a floating manmade nest on the lake. These eggs were laid over the last 2 days that I was by the lake observing them.