{"id":31178,"date":"2015-10-27T06:13:40","date_gmt":"2015-10-27T12:13:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=31178"},"modified":"2025-05-09T07:33:08","modified_gmt":"2025-05-09T12:33:08","slug":"a-clarks-grebe-in-flight-i-will-probably-never-get-images-like-these-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/10\/27\/a-clarks-grebe-in-flight-i-will-probably-never-get-images-like-these-again\/","title":{"rendered":"Clark’s Grebe In Flight – I May Never Get Images Like These Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Clark'sClark’s Grebe pooping in flight – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, FX mode, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I took images of a Clark’s Grebe in flight yesterday and I will probably never be able to do that again because they only fly at night. These are horrible images because I was so far away from the grebe and they fly surprisingly fast.<\/p>\n

From Birds of North American Online<\/span><\/a>:<\/p>\n

Flight<\/em><\/p>\n

Fast and direct with rapid wing beats, neck stretched with head slightly below level of body, feet stretched out behind. Migratory flights at night, rarely fly otherwise.<\/em><\/p>\n

From quite a distance I saw one bird attempt flight yesterday at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> and I believe that this bird is the same one because after it headed north in attempted flight it swam back south. I was trying to pay attention to the birds in front of me and keep an eye on it in case it attempted to fly again.<\/p>\n

To my surprise… it did. And pooped while it flew.<\/p>\n

\"Clark'sClark’s Grebe in flight over the water – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/2500, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, FX mode, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The grebe flew north over the water very quickly and it was a challenge to keep my focus on the bird because of the vegetation nearby.<\/p>\n

\"Clark'sClark’s Grebe about to land – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, FX mode, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I could see the grebe make a wide arc in flight and it headed towards an area with some open water.<\/p>\n

\"LandingLanding Clark’s Grebe – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/2000, ISO 400, -0.7 EV, FX mode, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At first I thought this was a Western Grebe but after reviewing this image I came to the conclusion that it is a Clark’s Grebe because of the extensive white flight feathers shown in the crappy image above. Western Grebes don’t show that much white in their flight feathers.<\/p>\n

I couldn’t believe I had seen and photographed a grebe in flight during the day. The grebes are getting ready for migration and perhaps that is why I saw this grebe take a short flight.<\/p>\n

\"Clark'sClark’s Grebe scratching an itch – Nikon D810, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 400, +0.3 EV, FX mode, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I know the images I took of the Clark’s Grebe flying are not my usual quality but I will take them as they are and I am glad I was paying attention to that grebe. Once in a life time.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Clark’s Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I took images of a Clark’s Grebe in flight yesterday and I will probably never be able to do that again because they only fly at night. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,162,1022,697,26],"tags":[4155,4016,4052,4122,877,7172,707,4094,3917,10558,4541,4095],"class_list":["post-31178","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-clarks-grebes","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-aechmophorus-clarkii","tag-clarks-grebe","tag-flight","tag-flying","tag-grebe","tag-grebe-flying","tag-grebes-2","tag-marsh","tag-pooping","tag-rare-sight","tag-scratching","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-flight-mia-mcpherson-6732.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-86S","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":31178,"position":0},"title":"Clark’s And Western Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 29, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"On my trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge last week I was delighted to see and hear both Clark's and Western Grebe species from the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Spring Clark's Grebe close up, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/clarks-grebe-spring-mia-mcpherson-5961.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":101597,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/04\/14\/spring-clarks-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":31178,"position":1},"title":"Spring Clark’s Grebe Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 14, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I'm sharing a few spring Clark's Grebe images today that I took up in the marshes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge during the first week of April.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Clark's Grebes in early spring, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/04\/clarks-grebe-adult-spring-mia-mcpherson-2649.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":107699,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/02\/immature-clarks-grebe-and-a-mystery\/","url_meta":{"origin":31178,"position":2},"title":"Immature Clark’s Grebe And A Mystery","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I came across an immature Clark's Grebe on Monday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I took photos of the grebe because I could see something on its fluffy neck.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Clark's Grebe with something on its neck, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/clarks-grebe-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/clarks-grebe-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3188.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/clarks-grebe-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3188.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/clarks-grebe-immature-bear-river-mbr-mia-mcpherson-3188.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":138373,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/28\/aba-birding-magazine-december-2024-my-clarks-grebe-cover\/","url_meta":{"origin":31178,"position":3},"title":"ABA Birding Magazine – December 2024 – My Clark’s Grebe Cover","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"My Clark's Grebe photo graces the cover of the ABA's Birding Magazine December 2024 edition, and I wanted to share the cover along with what I wrote about it.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"ABA Birding Magazine - December 2024 Clark's Grebe cover thumbnail","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ABA-Birding-Magazne-December-2024-Clarks-Grebes-cover-thumbnail-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ABA-Birding-Magazne-December-2024-Clarks-Grebes-cover-thumbnail-.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/12\/ABA-Birding-Magazne-December-2024-Clarks-Grebes-cover-thumbnail-.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":125552,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/23\/pair-of-clarks-grebes-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":31178,"position":4},"title":"Pair Of Clark’s Grebes At Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 23, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"On my most recent trip to Bear River MBR, I stopped my Jeep on the west side of the auto tour loop to take a few images of a pair of Clark's Grebes.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pair of Clark's Grebes on the last day of winter, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-adult-pair-mia-mcpherson-0776.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-adult-pair-mia-mcpherson-0776.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-adult-pair-mia-mcpherson-0776.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-adult-pair-mia-mcpherson-0776.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":116223,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/09\/24\/demure-looking-western-grebe\/","url_meta":{"origin":31178,"position":5},"title":"Demure Looking Western Grebe","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week, I photographed this demure looking Western Grebe on one of the water units from the auto tour loop at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge"","block_context":{"text":"Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Demure looking Western Grebe at Bear River MBR, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/western-grebe-demure-adult-mia-mcpherson-0816.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31178","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=31178"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/31178\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=31178"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=31178"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=31178"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}