This Pied-bill Grebe was swimming a canal at the edge of Black Point Drive. The lighting was perfect for reflections of him and the mangroves that lined the other side.
The grey in this next reflection is from a Tricolored Heron that was perched in the mangroves.
The Grebe just kept paddling along, looking around, and I was surprised he didn’t dive
Black Point Wildlife Drive, Merritt Island Wildlife Refuge, Florida
December 31, 2023
Pied-billed Grebes are excellent divers, often disappearing with hardly a ripple in the water.
This one treated me to a slow motion descent:
Going…
Going…
Gone…
Donnelley Wildlife Management Area, SC
October 21, 2023
For a small bird the Pied-billed Grebe makes a pretty big landing.
(All About Birds)
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
October 24, 2022
The Pied-billed Grebes and Snowy Egret kept moving along the edge of the pond, giving me better light on the water.
They continued back and forth for several minutes.
The Snowy Egret displayed a classic stalking move…
…then appeared to goose one of the Grebes.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
October 24, 2022
A small flock of Pied-billed Grebes, which feed underwater on small fish and invertebrates, were following a strutting Snowy Egret.
The water was pretty shallow but it didn’t stop the Grebes from diving in the Snowy Egret’s wake.
The Snowy Egret was quick to take advantage of the prey the Grebes were stirring up.
As usual, the Snowy did like to be the leader of the pack.
Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
October 24, 2022
It was a foggy start to the day and I watched this Pied-billed Grebe paddle back and forth through the reflections recreated by trees on the opposite bank.
The shot of him in the most colorful reflection eluded me.
He did treat me to a few butt views as he dove, but then he popped right back up.
A Pied-billed Grebe paddled into the corner of a pond, the wind rippling his wake.
Some tall reeds worked like a blind for me…
…for a minute.
He popped right back up,
and paddled away.
A Pied-billed Grebe just floating along.
A bird or turtle beyond the frame caused the water to ripple.
January 15,
Pied-billed Grebes are mighty cute, always looking a little “baby faced.”
On this morning at the Ding Darling Wildlife Drive the water was still and the light very nice for reflections.
Grebes seem to be in constant motion, quickly reversing direction as they search for prey in the water.
This was one of those days that there was so much bird activity I missed a lot of action, including the fly in and landing of a pair of Grebes.
Ding Darling National Wildlife Refuge
January 5,2020
Small and chunky, the Pied-billed Grebe always looks like a baby-faced juvenile to me.
Last week several of them were swimming in the rice field canal. Saltbrush seeds from shrubs that lined the bank were drifting over the water.
The lowering late afternoon light and growth on the opposite bank changed the look of the water as I proceeded down the canal.
Further along the Saltbrush seeds looked like sparkly feathers floating on the water. Saltbrush, Baccharis halimifolia, is a woody shrub or small tree in the Asteraceae family, and is also known as Groundsel.
