Pic of the Day

Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis:  Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Utah

     This photo was taken on my last day at the Bear River National Wildlife Refuge near Brigham, Utah.  I had driven past the location of the nest numerous times, but never noticed it.   On my last drive through I actually drove past the nest before my brain registered that I had just seen a grebe on a nest.   I quickly backed up and sure enough, a Western Grebe  was on a nest.  I quickly grabbed my camera and camouflage cover and slipped down the edge of the road to photograph the grebe.  I captured this image as the grebe climbed onto the nest.  Note the feathers underneath the grebe opening to expose the brood patch as she sits on the eggs.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4, 1/160 second @ f8

Pic of the Day

     The Clark's and Western Grebes were long thought to be of the same species.  The Clark’s Grebe was first described to science in 1858, but was considered as a variant of the western Grebe.  It was not until 1985 that the two species were split and the Clark’s gained its own species status.

Clark's Grebe, Aechmophorus clarkii:  Bear River Bird Sanctuary; Brigham, Utah

    Though they both perform the same style of courtship display and occupy the same habitat, the differences in facial patterns keeps the two species from interbreeding.  The black cap of the Western Grebe extends to the eye, or below the eye while the Clark’s has a distinct white margin between the eye and black cap.  I have also noticed, and this is easily recognized at a distance, that the Clark’s flankes seem to be lighter than those of the Western Grebe.   This makes identification of the two species quite easy from afar.

    Other identifying features are the bill color and the voice.  The Clark’s bill is a bright yellow-orange, while the Western's shows a yellow bill with an olive tinge.  The voices of the two species are quite different as well.  The Clark’s voice is a single syllable “kreeek,” and the Western a distinct two syllable “Kree-eeek.”

Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis: Bear River Bird Sanctuary; Brigham, Utah
Note: that the two Western Grebes shown here shown different facial patterns.  The 
 foreground bird shows the black cap extenuating to the top of the eye while the bird in 
the background show the black cap extending below the eye.

     The Clark’s Grebe is named in honor of John Henry Clark.  Clark was a 19^th century American surveyor who was a naturalist and a collector.  The genus name Aechmophorus comes from the Ancient Greek word “aichme”, meaning spear, referencing the grebes long dagger like beak.

Hear the call of the Clark’s Grebe:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Clarks_Grebe/sounds

Hear the call of the Western Grebe:  http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Western_Grebe/sounds

References:  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clark's_grebe

https://www.audubon.org/field-guide/bird/clarks-grebe

Top:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/200 second @ f/6.3

Bottom:  Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/400 second @ f/10

Pic of the Day

Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis:  Bear River Bird Sanctuary; Brigham, Utah

     Another image of the Western Grebe in the previous post at its nest in the Bear River Bird Sanctuary.  Note how far back the legs are on the grebes body.  The grebe is an excellent swimmer, but very awkward on land.

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4 with 1.4 teleconverter (effective 700mm f/5.6), 1/2000 second @ f/11

Pic of the Day

Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis:  Bear River Bird Sanctuary; Brigham, Utah

     On my recent trip to the Bear River Bird Sanctuary at Brigham, Utah, I found Western and Clark's Grebes in various stages of nesting.  Most birds I saw had chicks, some large and some small, but this Western Grebe was still sitting on eggs.  
     I was fortunate to find this bird nesting very close to the road.  I rarely shoot with a tele-converter, but I used one for this shot to increase the distance, thus causing less disturbance to the bird.  I was very careful in my approach, as not to disturb the grebe, but another pair came very close to the nest.  They must have come too close, because the female slid off the nest and chased the other birds away.  Within a minute of chasing the intruders off she climbed back on the nest allowing me to get this shot.  Shooting this bird and its eggs was a real treat, making the long drive to Utah worthwhile.

Nikon D800, Nikon 500mm f/4 with 1.4 teleconverter (effective 700mm f/5.6), 
1/5000 second @ f/7.1

Pic of the Day

Western Grebe, Aechmophorus occidentalis:  Bear River Bird Sanctuary; Brigham, Utah

     I photographed this beautiful Western Grebe at the Bear River Bird Sanctuary as it swam along the edge of one the refuges water impoundments.  Its mate was sitting on eggs about twenty feet away.  As other grebes came close he was quick to chase the interlopers away.  It seems as if he was doing a good job of protecting the nest and his mate.  I will post the bird on the nest another time.  Please check back soon.  

Nikon D800, Nikkor 500mm f/4 lens with 1.4 teleconverter (effective 700mm f/5.6 lens).  1/5000 second @ f/7.1

Pic of the Day

     Western Grebe, (Aechmophorus occidentalis) – Bear River Migratory Bird Sanctuary; Brigham, Utah:  The Clark's Grebe (previous post) and Western Grebe were once thought to be the same species.  It is easy to see why there was such confusion, as both birds do look very much alike, and they are often found together on western marshes.  The Clark’s was separated from the Western Grebe in the 1980’s.

     From the time they are hatched until they are almost full-grown, grebe chicks ride on the backs of their parents.  I found this chick hitching a ride on one parent as the other fished, and occasional fed the hitchhiker.  After shooting for a while, I was able to capture these intimate moments between the chick and its parent. 

Top Image:  Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/1,250 sec. @ f6.3

Bottom Image:  Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/1,600 sec. @ f7.1

Pic of the Day

     Western Grebe; Aechmophorus occidentalis -- Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge; Brigham, Utah:  Always expect the unexpected.  This is a lesson I have learned over my many years of photographing birds.  While I was at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, I had a fantastic time photographing Western and Clarke’s Grebes.  The grebes were always in the hustle and bustle of life.  There were birds with chicks, feeding chicks and birds chasing off intruders getting too close to chicks.  Then, there were those that were fishing.  Lots of grebes were fishing, and most were catching small fry that were no more than an inch or inch and half long.   As soon as an adult would surface with a fish, it would feed it to its’ chick.  This was good and I got find photos of adults feeding chicks, but I want a grebe with a bigger fish. 

     Just when I was about to give up the idea of a grebe with a bigger fish, the unexpected happened.  When I came across this fellow fishing, he surfacing a couple of times a minute with small fish like all the others.  After watching for a few minutes he surfaced, much to my delight, with a catfish that was about 7-8 inches long. 

     Instead of catching the catfish between its beak, the grebe speared the catfish with its lower mandible.  With its sharp spiny back and side fins catfish must be tough to get down.  After about twenty minutes of thrashing the catfish against the water, diving and resurfacing with the fish the grebe eventually got his catch down. 

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4 with 1.4 teleconvert, Exposure 1/1,600 Sec @ f6.3

Pic of the Day

     

     Western Grebe with chick – Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge; Brigham, Utah:  When I arrived at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was quite shocked.  I had called the week before and was informed that the water levels were not as high as last year at this same time.  I was expecting low water, but not what I found.  Last year held extremely high water, and the birds were everywhere, nesting right-up to the road.  This year the water is extremely low.  Areas that held nesting stilts and avocets last year are dried and cracked.  However, Impoundment 2 holds lots of water and lots of birds, so shooting is very good.  Also, birds are more advanced in nesting and age of young this year.  Last year I saw no fledgling grebes, but this year they are everywhere. 

     I shot this image of a western grebe chick hitching a ride on mom’s back this morning.  Birds are not as quite as close as I like, but with a little patience the birds will eventually come quite close.  I will work here another day or two and then head toward Nevada.

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4, 1/1,600 second @ f6.3, ISO 400

Pic of the Day

     Clark's Grebe and Western Grebe -- Bear River NWR:  After the Bear River NWR was close I headed north to the Tetons and Yellowstone.  The Tetons were nice, but Yellowstone (like the Tetons) were having a late spring.  I was here a year ago and Yellowstone was green and filled with birds.  Not this year, Winter is holding on! After a day in the Teton's I got a call from the Refuge Manager at Bear River, he told me he was opening the refuge on Friday.  On Thursday evening I headed back to Bear River.
This morning I shot these two image of the Clark's and Western grebes.  Both of the birds are lifer's for me.  The first lifer I've had since the Ivory-billed Woodpecker in February 2004.
     I love the Bear River NWR, the shooting is great!  If you have never been to this refuge, you should.  Plan to be here in early to mid June.  The birds are nesting and the refuge is hopping!  Check back soon for more updates.

Look at the images closely.  Can you tell which is the Clarks and which is the Western?

Nikon D7000, Nikkor 500mm f4