{"id":49510,"date":"2017-11-20T05:48:51","date_gmt":"2017-11-20T12:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=49510"},"modified":"2025-10-28T15:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-10-28T20:07:13","slug":"resting-pied-billed-grebe-on-silky-looking-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/11\/20\/resting-pied-billed-grebe-on-silky-looking-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Resting Pied-billed Grebe on Silky Looking Water"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"SilkySilky water and a Pied-billed Grebe – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

I went to Farmington Bay WMA yesterday and birds were scarce. There were tons of hunters out on the water and walking through the marsh keeping the birds stirred up.<\/p>\n

Nothing seemed to go well so I left there feeling like I had been beating my head against a brick wall and that is a feeling I don’t like.<\/p>\n

After my disappointment at Farmington Bay I stopped by my local pond to see if there were any interesting birds there to photograph.<\/p>\n

The regular birds were present including Canada Geese, Mallards, American Coots, Ring-billed and California Gulls, and quite a few Pied-billed Grebes.<\/p>\n

I could have just gone straight home but I decided to take a few photos of the Pied-billed Grebes because I loved how the water looked through my lens, it had a silky appearance.<\/p>\n

When one of the resting grebes opened its eyes to look around I took that opportunity to take about a dozen photos of it.<\/p>\n

\"Pied-billedPied-billed Grebe on silky water – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The Pied-billed Grebe<\/span><\/a> was a bit too far away to take frame filling images of it but I was okay with that because I feel that the visual appearance of the silky water is just as important as the bird in these photos.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

The Pied-billed Grebe was a bit too far away to take frame filling images of it but I was okay with that because I feel that the visual appearance of the silky water is just as important as the bird in these photos. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162062,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27,135,709,26],"tags":[970,4620,877,707,10698,4009,4166,1984,958,4156,6238,8018,3996,16369],"class_list":["post-49510","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-pied-billed-grebes","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-autumn","tag-fall","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-park","tag-pied-billed-grebe","tag-podilymbus-podiceps","tag-pond","tag-reflections","tag-resting","tag-silky-water","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-willow-pond-park"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-silky-water-mia-mcpherson-7577.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-cSy","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":6408,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2012\/10\/23\/a-rare-sight-to-see-standing-pied-billed-grebes\/","url_meta":{"origin":49510,"position":0},"title":"Rare Sight to See – Walking And Standing Pied-billed Grebes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 23, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"It was an unusual experience to see these Pied-billed Grebes standing upright and walking on the edge of this pond, some might even consider it rare.","rel":"","context":"In "Davis County"","block_context":{"text":"Davis County","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/utah\/davis-county-utah\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Standing Pied-billed Grebe adult, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-mia-mcpherson-4888.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-mia-mcpherson-4888.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-mia-mcpherson-4888.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-mia-mcpherson-4888.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":31502,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/11\/02\/wintertime-and-pied-billed-grebes\/","url_meta":{"origin":49510,"position":1},"title":"Wintertime and Pied-billed Grebes","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 2, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied-billed Grebe in icy water, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-ice-mia-mcpherson-8258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-ice-mia-mcpherson-8258.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-ice-mia-mcpherson-8258.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-ice-mia-mcpherson-8258.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118683,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/02\/immature-pied-billed-grebe-being-chased-and-other-grebe-behaviors\/","url_meta":{"origin":49510,"position":2},"title":"Immature Pied-billed Grebe Being Chased And Other Grebe Behaviors","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 2, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"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.","rel":"","context":"In "Pied-billed Grebes"","block_context":{"text":"Pied-billed Grebes","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/grebes\/pied-billed-grebes\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Pied-billed Grebe being chased, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-immature-chased-mia-mcpherson-8805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-immature-chased-mia-mcpherson-8805.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-immature-chased-mia-mcpherson-8805.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/pied-billed-grebe-immature-chased-mia-mcpherson-8805.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":109913,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/01\/30\/fluffy-butt-pied-billed-grebe\/","url_meta":{"origin":49510,"position":3},"title":"Fluffy Butt Pied-billed Grebe","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 30, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"What bird is cuter than a fluffy butt Pied-billed Grebe? There are probably quite a few birds as cute but this one taken four years ago tickled my fancy today.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Fluffy butt Pied-billed Grebe, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-fluffy-butt-mia-mcpherson-0181.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-fluffy-butt-mia-mcpherson-0181.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-fluffy-butt-mia-mcpherson-0181.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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Plumage Phases","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"September 26, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"About a week ago I photographed a young Pied-billed Grebe that was still in juvenal plumage on a pond at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Young Pied-billed Grebe in juvenal plumage, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pied-billed-grebe-immature-plumage-mia-mcpherson-4932.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/09\/pied-billed-grebe-immature-plumage-mia-mcpherson-4932.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, 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