{"id":55577,"date":"2019-01-08T05:55:09","date_gmt":"2019-01-08T12:55:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=55577"},"modified":"2025-10-29T05:46:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-29T10:46:11","slug":"pied-billed-grebe-with-crayfish-being-chased-across-the-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/01\/08\/pied-billed-grebe-with-crayfish-being-chased-across-the-water\/","title":{"rendered":"Pied-billed Grebe With Crayfish Being Chased Across The Water"},"content":{"rendered":"<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"lazyload aligncenter wp-image-162114 size-full\" title=\"Pied-billed Grebe with crayfish running across the water, Salt Lake County, Utah\" src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292.jpg\" data-orig-src=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292.jpg\" alt=\"Pied-billed Grebe with crayfish running across the water, Salt Lake County, Utah\" width=\"900\" height=\"508\" srcset=\"data:image\/svg+xml,%3Csvg%20xmlns%3D%27http%3A%2F%2Fwww.w3.org%2F2000%2Fsvg%27%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27508%27%20viewBox%3D%270%200%20900%20508%27%3E%3Crect%20width%3D%27900%27%20height%3D%27508%27%20fill-opacity%3D%220%22%2F%3E%3C%2Fsvg%3E\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292-200x113.jpg 200w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292-400x226.jpg 400w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292-600x339.jpg 600w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292-768x433.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292.jpg 900w\" data-sizes=\"auto\" data-orig-sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><span style=\"color: #808080;\">Pied-billed Grebe with crayfish running across the water &#8211; Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 640, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n<p>There are so many times I wish I could share what I see going on just outside of the frame of my images or that what I photograph could encompass all that I actually see that is beyond my view finder.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>The photo shows motion because of the splashing water, the blur of the grebe&#8217;s wings, and the bird&#8217;s posture but it doesn&#8217;t show the reason the grebe is racing across the water with its prey.<\/p>\n<p>I wish it did because it would add more drama and action and it would tell the whole story.<\/p>\n<p>If the second <a href=\"https:\/\/www.allaboutbirds.org\/guide\/Pied-billed_Grebe\/overview\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">Pied-billed Grebe<\/span><\/a> that is outside of the frame in this photo had been closer though I may not have been able to get it in focus as sharply as this bird was in which case I probably would have deleted the file.<\/p>\n<p>As a bird photographer I don&#8217;t always get the exact image I want but that is also one of the reasons I keep going back into the field time after time embracing the hope that one day I will.<\/p>\n<p>Life <em>is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n<p>Mia<\/p>\n<p>Click <a href=\"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/pied-billed-grebe-images\/\"><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\">here<\/span><\/a> to see more of my Pied-billed Grebe photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n<p><em>This photo was taken almost one year ago.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>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.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":162114,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","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":[27,134,135,709,26],"tags":[4284,2545,2544,877,707,4009,4166,1984,4148,8018,3996,373],"class_list":["post-55577","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-grebes","category-pied-billed-grebes","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-chase","tag-crawdad","tag-crayfish","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-pied-billed-grebe","tag-podilymbus-podiceps","tag-pond","tag-running","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-4292.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-esp","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":55944,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/02\/05\/pied-billed-grebe-and-a-crayfish\/","url_meta":{"origin":55577,"position":0},"title":"Pied-billed Grebe And A Crayfish","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"The slow chase was soon to change and before I knew it both Pied-billed Grebes started running across the water and the grebe with the crayfish started racing across the water with the crayfish dangling from its bill.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied-billed Grebe racing across the water with a large crayfish, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-running-on-water-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-0039.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-running-on-water-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-0039.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-running-on-water-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-0039.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-running-on-water-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-0039.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50306,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/27\/photographing-pied-billed-grebes-with-crayfish\/","url_meta":{"origin":55577,"position":1},"title":"Photographing Pied-billed Grebes With Crayfish &#8211; Oh What Fun Can Be Had","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"The funniest photo I took yesterday, the one that made me laugh out loud the hardest, was when a crayfish landed on the Pied-billed Grebe's head after the bird shook it hard.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Crayfish on a Pied-billed Grebe's head, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-cray-fish-mia-mcpherson-2088.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-cray-fish-mia-mcpherson-2088.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-cray-fish-mia-mcpherson-2088.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-cray-fish-mia-mcpherson-2088.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":50003,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/21\/pied-billed-grebes-with-flying-crayfish-see-food-on-the-wing\/","url_meta":{"origin":55577,"position":2},"title":"Pied-billed Grebes With Flying Crayfish &#8211; See Food On The Wing","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 21, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"Three afternoons ago I captured images of not just one flying crayfish in the air but two of them because of the Pied-billed Grebes capturing and consuming the freshwater crustaceans.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied-billed Grebe and flying crayfish, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-flying-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-7770.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-flying-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-7770.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-flying-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-7770.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-flying-crayfish-mia-mcpherson-7770.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":63145,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2020\/01\/22\/bathing-adult-pied-billed-grebe-splashing-water\/","url_meta":{"origin":55577,"position":3},"title":"Bathing Adult Pied-billed Grebe Splashing Water","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 22, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"The Pied-billed Grebe dunked its head then slapped its wings against the water vigorously which caused the icy water to fly in all directions.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Adult Pied-billed Grebe bathing and splashing, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4994.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4994.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-mia-mcpherson-4994.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":43217,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/11\/22\/immature-pied-billed-grebe-running-across-the-water-with-prey\/","url_meta":{"origin":55577,"position":4},"title":"Immature Pied-billed Grebe running across the water with prey","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 22, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"Last month I captured a series of images of an immature Pied-billed Grebe running across the water with prey in its bill at Farmington Bay WMA.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Immature Pied-billed Grebe being chased over the water, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-juvenile-prey-running-mia-mcpherson-8977.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-juvenile-prey-running-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-juvenile-prey-running-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/pied-billed-grebe-juvenile-prey-running-mia-mcpherson-8977.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":119982,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/01\/21\/bathing-pied-billed-grebe-photo\/","url_meta":{"origin":55577,"position":5},"title":"Bathing Pied-billed Grebe Photo","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"January 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning, I'm sharing a simple bathing Pied-billed Grebe photo that I took four years ago. I like this grebe image because of all the flying water droplets.","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Birds&quot;","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Pied-billed Grebe bathing vigorously, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-urban-mia-mcpherson-4993.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-urban-mia-mcpherson-4993.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-urban-mia-mcpherson-4993.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/01\/pied-billed-grebe-bathing-urban-mia-mcpherson-4993.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\/55577","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=55577"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/55577\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/162114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=55577"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=55577"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=55577"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}