{"id":97866,"date":"2021-12-04T04:41:00","date_gmt":"2021-12-04T11:41:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=97866"},"modified":"2023-11-11T05:05:55","modified_gmt":"2023-11-11T12:05:55","slug":"eared-grebe-photos-these-grebes-have-such-fluffy-butts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2021\/12\/04\/eared-grebe-photos-these-grebes-have-such-fluffy-butts\/","title":{"rendered":"Eared Grebe Photos – These Grebes Have Such Fluffy Butts"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"FallFall Eared Grebe in nonbreeding plumage \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning at Bear River MBR<\/span><\/a> I spotted a single Eared Grebe in the marsh and stopped to take photos of it. The Eared Grebe was in nonbreeding plumage which is typical for this time of year. These grebes may be more colorful when they are in breeding plumage but any time I have one in my viewfinder is a good day for me.<\/p>\n

The Eared Grebe spent quite a bit of time facing away from me and I couldn’t help but notice how fluffy its rear end was as I photographed the bird.<\/p>\n

\"EaredEared Grebe showing its fluffy butt \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Eared Grebes do have very fluffy butts. I was grateful that the grebe looked back towards me often so I could also photograph its face and its bright, orange-red eye.<\/p>\n

In the past I photographed a Horned Grebe in about this same location<\/span><\/a> which in nonbreeding plumage look very similar but the necks on Eared Grebes are duskier, their eyes are often more orange than red in nonbreeding plumage, and Eared Grebes typically don’t have a white tip at the end of their bills that Horned Grebes have.<\/p>\n

\"AutumnAutumn Eared Grebe at Bear River MBR \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I do wish this Eared Grebe had been just a little closer than it was but I was grateful to have it in my viewfinder. I enjoyed the time I had with the grebe and I am happy with the photos of I took of it.<\/p>\n

I found and pointed out more birds yesterday that I will share here in the upcoming days but the marsh still had fewer birds than I expected to see for this time of the year. Large flocks of ducks and geese were noticeably absent along with other birds I have seen during the fall at the refuge in previous years.<\/p>\n

Still a morning spent at the refuge is better than a day spent inside.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

Yesterday morning at Bear River MBR I spotted a single Eared Grebe in the marsh and stopped to take photos of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":97858,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[124,27,1148,377,26],"tags":[4004,970,12335,4385,4620,3035,877,707,4094,4246,4271,3996,4095],"class_list":["post-97866","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-eared-grebes","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-autumn","tag-butt","tag-eared-grebe","tag-fall","tag-fluffy","tag-grebe","tag-grebes-2","tag-marsh","tag-nonbreeding-plumage","tag-podiceps-nigricollis","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t