{"id":60762,"date":"2019-10-10T05:59:28","date_gmt":"2019-10-10T11:59:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=60762"},"modified":"2025-05-08T16:04:04","modified_gmt":"2025-05-08T21:04:04","slug":"molting-immature-clarks-grebe-shaking-its-feathers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2019\/10\/10\/molting-immature-clarks-grebe-shaking-its-feathers\/","title":{"rendered":"Molting Immature Clark’s Grebe Shaking Its Feathers"},"content":{"rendered":"

It felt great to photograph a molting, immature Clark’s Grebe three days ago at Farmington Bay WMA because for the last few years I haven’t taken many images of this species.<\/p>\n

\"MoltingMolting immature Clark’s Grebe – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/2500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500,mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

When I checked my Clark’s Grebe portfolio on my site the most recent photo entry was from 2017 and there have been several reasons why I’ve photographed so few of them.<\/p>\n

The first reason is access which is limited at Farmington Bay WMA<\/span><\/a> during the nesting season and the second is that the best water units for seeing grebes reliably and in good morning light at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge have been drawn down for three years in a row.<\/p>\n

I sincerely hope that the refuge does not draw the water down on Unit 2 again next spring so the grebes can finally start nesting there again.<\/p>\n

My best chances for seeing Clark’s Grebes during the breeding season at Farmington Bay WMA have been at Glover Pond yet most of the time they haven’t been there when I have been there during that period of time. I just can’t takes images of them if they aren’t there when I am.<\/p>\n

After the gate is opened past Goose Egg Island in September at Farmington Bay there have been loads of grebes in the water unit to the east of the road but in the morning that means a poor light angle. I’d have to go to Farmington in the afternoon to get the best light on the grebes in that water unit.<\/p>\n

This molting, immature Clark’s Grebe was photographed at the 4-way at Farmington Bay WMA, this bit of water used to have dozens of grebes on it at this time of the year but the other day there were only a few and I took advantage of their presence and photographed them.<\/p>\n

Our Clark’s and Western Grebes will be leaving here soon and except for a few downy feathers on this one’s forehead it looks like it is ready to take on its first migration.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Our Clark’s and Western Grebes will be leaving here soon and except for a few downy feathers on this one’s forehead it looks like it is ready to take on its first migration.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":143665,"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":[27,162,1022,697,26],"tags":[4155,4016,7841,877,707,4067,4094,530,2313,4502,3996,4095,4193],"class_list":["post-60762","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-downy-feathers","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-immature","tag-marsh","tag-migration","tag-molting","tag-shaking","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-young"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/clarks-grebe-immature-molting-mia-mcpherson-6424.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-fO2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":107699,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/02\/immature-clarks-grebe-and-a-mystery\/","url_meta":{"origin":60762,"position":0},"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":101210,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/03\/29\/clarks-and-western-grebe-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":60762,"position":1},"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":60762,"position":2},"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":138373,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/12\/28\/aba-birding-magazine-december-2024-my-clarks-grebe-cover\/","url_meta":{"origin":60762,"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":118683,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/12\/02\/immature-pied-billed-grebe-being-chased-and-other-grebe-behaviors\/","url_meta":{"origin":60762,"position":4},"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":125552,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/23\/pair-of-clarks-grebes-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":60762,"position":5},"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":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60762","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=60762"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/60762\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/143665"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=60762"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=60762"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=60762"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}