By Mia McPherson, on May 9th, 2012% During spring and fall migration there can be so many Eared Grebes (Podiceps nigricollis) on the Great Salt Lake that they are impossible to count.
 Eared Grebes on the Great Salt Lake - Nikon D200, handheld, f9, 1/1000, ISO 400, Nikkor 18-200mm VR at 130mm, natural light The diet of Eared Grebes include brine shrimp and alkali flies that are found in hyper saline environments such as Mono Lake in California and the Great Salt Lake in Utah. For most of the year Eared Grebes and Wilson’s Phalaropes are the two bird species that spend the most time in highly saline environments.
It is amazing to stop on the causeway to Antelope Island State Park and see thousands upon thousands of Eared Grebes. Yesterday day most of the grebes were north of the causeway and even with my high-powered lens I couldn’t see where the birds stopped.
 Eared Grebe in breeding plumage - Nikon D300, f6.3, 1/2500, ISO 640, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light I think that Eared Grebes are gorgeous in breeding plumage with their primarily dark body and neck combined with the dark head in contrast to the wispy yellow plumes and cherry red eye. I like that crest too!
My portfolio is seriously lacking in Eared Grebe images, something I should remedy.
Mia
By Mia McPherson, on April 10th, 2012% It won’t be long before the high, scratchy kweea kweea calls of Clark’s Grebes (Aechmophorus clarkii) are heard in Utah’s Bear River National Wildlife Refuge if they haven’t already arrived. I haven’t been to Bear River NWR in a while. (I checked on the Bear River NWR site and at least 18 Western Grebes and 16 Clark’s Grebes have been seen there recently)
 - Clark’s Grebe at Bear River National Wildlife Refuge – Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 250, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
I think that Clark’s Grebes are striking birds with their long graceful necks, black crowns, sharp bright yellow to orange-yellow bills, lovely white, gray and black plumage and those brilliant cherry-red eyes. Clark’s Grebes nest at Bear River NWR, they build floating nests with emergent vegetation. The young are able to swim not long after hatching and like other grebe young they do ride on the adult’s backs.
Clark’s Grebes are rarely seen in flight because they dive and swim to get away from predators and they only migrate at night. I’d still love to see one in flight and capture their mating display called “rushing”.
Mia
More Clark’s Grebe images
By Mia McPherson, on March 23rd, 2012% I’ve posted adult Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) before but hadn’t posted any images of their young on my blog yet so I am posting a few images of one of them today. These images were created at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, just to the north of Salt Lake City, Utah.
 Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe in morning light - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light This is a hatch year Pied-billed Grebe and it still shows some of the camouflage that the immature birds have to help them hide from predators. This bird is in the “Stripe-head stage” but it is not nearly as striped as younger Pied-billed Grebes are.
 Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe stretching - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light As I observed and photographed this immature Pied-billed Grebe it preened some, did a few stretches and fluffed up it feathers. The image above shows the lobed foot of the bird.
 Juvenile Pied-billed Grebe - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light Personally, I think that Pied-billed Grebes (of any age) are fun to photograph because they are so feisty with each other, they often chase each other around when one of them catches a fish in an effort to steal it away.
 Pied-billed Grebe juvenile - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/800, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light Pied-billed Grebes can live to be at least 3 years old, if not longer. They are rarely seen in flight because they migrate at night. They are capable of long distance flights, some Pied-billed Grebes have flown to Europe, the Azores and the Canary Islands. ¹
 Fluffed up juvenile Pied-billed Grebe - Nikon D300, f7.1, 1/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light It won’t be long before the adult Pied-billed Grebes in this area begin the nesting season and more of these young grebes will be seen floating on the water near the adults, begging for food or chasing after each other.
Mia
More Pied-billed Grebe images
¹ Birds of North America
By Mia McPherson, on February 7th, 2012% All over the U.S. this winter is reported as “The Winter that Wasn’t”. I believe it, I’m living it. The temperatures have been warmer, there has been very little snow in the Salt Lake Valley and it has just been very odd. The numbers of Bald Eagles are very low at Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area compared to last year at this time and it seems the Rough-legged Hawks have started to move north already because their numbers are dwindling.
But I have begun to notice the signs of spring. Common Ravens and Loggerhead Shrikes are pairing up, Western Meadowlarks are singing their little hearts out and tiny green shoots of grass trying to emerge from the cold soil. So, enough already, if there isn’t going to be a winter then bring on the spring!
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) with its eye on another Grebe ~ Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Utah
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1500, ISO 320, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC 400mm, natural light
Each spring I look forward to seeing the arrival of Western Grebes in noisy, gregarious flocks. For me, they mean the ice has melted and that spring is making its appearance. Western Grebes are handsome black and white birds with cherry red eyes and long sharp bills. Western Grebes are graceful in the water, clumsy on land and enchanting during their amazing courtship rushes.
I hope to get acceptable (by my own personal standards) of them rushing this spring if the Bear River refuge remains open throughout this years breeding season. Last year there was some flooding and road work happening that closed the road to the auto tour where rushing can usually be seen and photographed.
Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis) family portrait ~ Bear River National Wildlife Refuge, Utah
Nikon D200, f7.1, 1/750, ISO 320, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
Western Grebes make floating nests using plant materials that are normally attached to submerged vegetation and both sexes incubate the eggs.
Within minutes of hatching the young climb onto the parents back and are hidden under the feathers which is called back-brooding and lasts for several weeks. In my opinion it is very endearing to see the young poke their heads out of the back feathers of the adult to beg for food or to just look around.
Yeah, bring on spring, I can barely wait to see Western Grebes again!
Mia
More Western Grebe images
By Mia McPherson, on October 28th, 2011% 
Male Ring-necked Pheasants in autumn grasses and Pickleweed (from 2010)
Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
Some days when I don’t go out to photograph I look back through my files to find out what birds I had seen around the same time last year so I’ll know what birds I might find in certain locations. I also like looking back through the files because I find images I haven’t edited yet.
There are quite a few Ring-necked Pheasants to be found at the Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area but they can be a challenge to find out in the open. I photographed these two males (one is mostly hidden) last year. We’d already had frost so the Pickleweed had turned crimson red in some spots, combined with the straw colored grasses this turned out to be a rather colorful image. Ah, autumn is very beautiful.
Juvenile White-crowned Sparrow (from 2010)
Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1600, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
I like the subdued colors in the image above of this juvenile White-crowned Sparrow. The leaves on this shrub had already fallen and pale golden grasses made for a nice background setting. Despite the bird and the setting having similar coloration the birds stands out very well.
Pied-billed Grebe (from 2008)
Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 320, +0.7 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
The Pied-billed Grebes that I have seen very little of during the summer are now making their appearance. They might be “plain” birds but what they lack in color they make up for with their attitudes, they are fiesty little grebes. I’ve seen them chasing after Red-breasted and Common Mergansers with fish to try and grab the food, Red-breasted Mergansers outweigh the Pied-billed Grebe by approximately 1.3 lbs and Common Mergansers out weigh them by 2.4 lbs. Pretty gutsy birds.
Red-winged Blackbird male
Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/500, ISO 400, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light
In October and November large flocks of Red-winged Blackbirds can be found in the Salt Lake Valley along with similar flocks of Starlings and Yellow-headed Blackbirds. I love the sound of the flocks lifting off in unison when I can hear the “whoosh” of their wings.
The Red-winged Blackbird above posed for over 10 minutes on this cattail giving me plenty of time to get my exposure right, photographing black birds is a challenge. When the temps get really chilly Red-winged Blackbirds (and other species) get “sticky”, meaning they are less apt to fly off right away.
Male Northern Harrier hovering in flight (from 2010)
Farmington Bay Wildlife Management Area, Davis County, Utah
Nikon D200, f5.6, 1/500, ISO 640, +1.0 EV, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Autumn means more Northern Harriers in the local places where I photograph birds, although harriers are year-round residents in the Salt Lake Valley, I see them most often and in greater numbers during the fall and winter. Male and female harriers look very different from each other. The male is often called the “Gray Ghost” though I’ve had many hits on my blog for the key words “light morph northern harrier”. The females are darker, brownish and have paler yellow eyes than the male.
Juvenile Red-tailed Hawk (from 2010)
Tooele County, near the Stansbury Mountains, Utah
Nikon D200, f6.3, 1/1250, ISO 400, Nikkor 200-400mm VR with 1.4x TC at 400mm, natural light, not baited
Raptors like this juvenile Red-tailed Hawk move down fom the high country during the autumn to the valleys to stay during the winter, the past few weeks I have seen their numbers increasing.
This Red-tailed Hawk was basking in the morning light near the top of an earthen dam with the Stansbury Mountains in the background. I couldn’t have asked for better light.
Photographing birds during Autumn is a wonderful time for me in Utah, the beautiful fall colors delight and enthrall me, the air gets nippy and I find myself feeling a surge of energy whenever I am outdoors. I’m thinking about adding new base layers to my clothing, warmer, insulated boots and buying a box of hand warmers so I don’t freeze my finger tips off.
Yes, I am looking forward to the birds I’ll see and photograph this autumn and winter but just being out there with them is great too.
Mia
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Photographing a Tricolored Heron from a tidal lagoon
Focusing on Wildlife Contributor
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