Western Grebe at Bear River MBR
The other day when I photographed the Black-crowned Night Heron at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I also photographed some Clark’s and Western Grebes, I found these two images of this Western Grebe interesting and wanted to post them.
This is a classical pose for a Western Grebe photograph, it shows the long elegant neck, the sharp bill and those maraschino cherry red eyes. I wish the light had been a touch better but there were some clouds overhead that prevented the best light from occurring.
Adult Western Grebe head on
Now this pose with a head on look… well I find it humorous! It isn’t often that I get to take Western Grebe images with the face head on. I just had to share.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to see more of my Western Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species.
Thank you all for your comments on this grebe post.
Ingrid, in Western Grebes the dark cap usually extends below the eyes and in Clark’s there is usually white surrounding the eyes but there are hybrids which can be tricky!
I still have trouble with my Western vs. Clark’s ID distinctions … but tend to go with Western, due to their general prevalence in my area … which I suppose is reasonable. I agree with Larry — love this perspective. Oh, and, I would [almost] kill for light as good as this! I didn’t realize how dim my perspectives were until I traveled home to San Francisco last month and couldn’t believe how low my ISO could be in that clear California light. 🙂
I have seen a lot of Western Grebe photos and taken quite a few myself but I don’t think I have ever seen a head on shot like that Mia. That is awesome! They look so different from that angle.
Now I know what one Western Grebe looks like to another as they meet! 🙂
It is rare to see a head on photo, especially with water birds. I really like your photo; beautiful eyes with a surprise expression ( it seem to me).
Look at those crazy eyes!! Awesome.
I really like that head on shot, shows how their eyes are set much better than from the side.
Beautiful! Elegant!
That is a great capture, so difficult to get those eyes just right. Oh well, practice, practice, practice. Your photographs give me something to aspire to. Thank you for sharing them.
Oh wow, that Grebe is superb, I loooooove it.