Immature Pied-billed Grebe Being Chased And Other Grebe Behaviors
Last week, I photographed an immature Pied-billed Grebe being chased by an adult at my local pond. I observed some other interesting grebe behaviors as well.
Last week, I photographed an immature Pied-billed Grebe being chased by an adult at my local pond. I observed some other interesting grebe behaviors as well.
A few days ago, I was able to photograph one cute coot scooting past me at my local pond on a bright sunny Utah morning. The action tickled my funny bone.
One morning last week I had many opportunities to take Eared Grebe photos at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge including one grebe with a large fish.
I spent a couple of hours yesterday photographing winter birds at Farmington Bay WMA and closer to home in the morning and afternoon.
The first time I raised my lens yesterday morning in the Wasatch Mountains it was for three Elk I spotted on a hillside.
Yesterday afternoon I was thrilled to be able to photograph two adult drake Common Goldeneyes in a territorial dispute on a pond as they moved across my field of view.
This image of a Pied-billed Grebe with a crayfish in its bill running across the water is one of those photos where I wish I could show the second grebe just outside of the frame chasing after it.
The drake Common Goldeneyes didn't have any physical contact that I could see because that often happens under the water but the drake in the back seemed intent on making the one in the front leave the area.
Because of the avocet's determination to chase off this Greater Yellowlegs I was able to photograph it lifting off from the water with water still dripping from its feet and with the shorebird's head framed by its wings.
The last birds I photographed in 2017 were American Coots and some of the first birds I took photos of in 2018 were also coots.
The light wasn't great when I photographed these Ring-billed Gulls flying in a December snow storm but I had a great time with the gulls and the rest of the birds.
The most interesting activities I saw yesterday were territorial behaviors and chases between two male Horned Larks in an open area of the park.
American Coots are quarrelsome birds and they are quick to give chase whether it is over food or territory and they will fight, sometimes even to death, for both.
Early in January I photographed an American Coot being chased by two Mallards for the food it carried in its bill.
American Coots have interesting behaviors that I like to try to capture, for instance the way they run across the surface of the water during territorial chases.
It seemed like every where I looked I saw little chipmunks scurrying around on the ground and climbing in the scrub oaks that dot the western side of the Wasatch Mountains.
When a few of the grebes caught sight of this Pied-billed Grebe with a large fish they started to chase it over the water.
With the forecast of possible snow this week I've been thinking about how much fun it can be to photograph Pied-billed Grebes in the wintertime again.
It never, ever fails that when I have an opportunity to photograph Golden Eagles something always goes wrong.
This image was taken on a breezy April morning in 2009 at Fort De Soto County Park's north beach when I saw an aerial food fight occurring over the Gulf of Mexico.
There were two Reddish Egrets (Egretta rufescens) on the north beach of Fort De Soto that day and it was a blast to watch them race around catching the small fish.