Birdchick Podcast #84: Grebmaggedon, Taped Calls & A Hooded Crane

Thousands of eared grebes crash landed in Utah winding up on football fields, a Walmart parking lot and highways in Utah.  At least 3000 live grebes were collected but a low estimate of 1500 grebes died on impact.  You can listen to Cornell Lab of Ornithology's Kevin McGowen talk about it on NPR. An article about song sparrows and how taped predator calls affect them.  An interesting article, but how often is a bird like a song sparrow going to be exposed to predator calls 24 hours a day, four days in a row by birders?

A huge discussion was started on the American Birding Association's group page about birders and why the uniform appears to be ill fitting khaki pants, vests and floppy hats.  Why is this our uniform?  Why the vest?

Remember the mystery hummingbird in Chicago (they one they tried to ID based on poop)? Well, they got a feather and they now know exactly what species it is based on DNA testing.  Find out the id here (or listen to the podcast).

A hooded crane has been reported in Tennessee.  Now the question is if this bird is truly a vagrant from another country or an escapee from a private collection.

Grebes of Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge

Going through spring photos and I've found a ton from Utah.  I love Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and try to make some time for it every time I'm in Utah--great birding by car and opportunities for digiscoping. Plus the scenery is fantastic!

Grebes are the type of bird that make me wish I could paint or draw well.  Take the above western grebe, it is naturally graceful and elegant, it is as if that bird were designed by Erte.

Okay, maybe grebe's lobed toes keep them from being 100% cool and elegant, but they mostly keep that goofiness under water.

It must be really hard to scratch an itch in just the right way with those toes, but that's the price you pay to be a badass swimmer and fisher I suppose.

But this shot just makes me wish I would paint it and really spend time admiring the shape and curves of the bird.  I love digiscoping but in some ways, you get the shots of the birds so quickly, it's not the same.

Even when they preen the look so cool and elegant.  When they start dancing, I wonder if the other species of waterfowl on lakes see them as the cheerleader and football player at prom--show offs, just because they're pretty and can dance they think they are so cool.

One of the cool things about Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge is that you also get a chance to see the similar Clark's grebe, they are little smaller, a little lighter in color, have an orange beak and the black on the head is above the eye.  They are a cool looking grebe, but not quite as stunning to me as the western.  Attenborough has a great segment on the Clark's grebe dance, check it out.

These are just a couple of the many awesome birds at Bear River, but I have so many photos, I need to start putting them up.

When digiscoping this area, you can either use a window mount to attach your car window, or use your car as a blind by standing behind it.  If you move slowly though, the birds seem to tolerate you.  If they swim away, with a little patience, they'll come a bit closer.

Valentine’s Day Inspiration 3

Today, we have a video from the esteemed David Attenborough and Clark's Grebes.  Some couples enjoy a turn on the dance floor...or in the case of the grebes, the dance water.  And as I watch this video, I realize I have not actually seen this behavior in the wild but only on videos.  I think I need to make that a goal this spring.  Western grebes aren't too far from me and they dance too. [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OC5USIwf6yQ&feature=related[/youtube]

So, perhaps your partner would enjoy some connection where they feel bonded and synchronized with your.  Consider taking them for a fish dinner and then go for some dancing.

Gratuitous Grebes!

One thing I love about visiting southern states is that some of the birds I see in Minnesota are so much more camera friendly.  Pied-billed grebes are shifty in Minnesota, they don't trust anyone staring at them for too long or they submerge and resurface further away.  While in Corpus Christi, my buddy Clay took me to a place with a ton of great waterfowl and some rather obliging grebes.  The above bird is an adult pied-billed grebe.

They even showed me their grebe toes.  How do you like them apples, not webbed like a duck at all.  Let's get a closer look:

Look at that crazy foot...wonder if this will lead to a slew of foot fetish comments getting clogged in the blog spam filter?  The feet of the grebe are far back on the body and the lobed toes do aid it as it swims underwater.  They really can't walk on land very well.  Ask yourself if you have ever seen one on land?

Here's a first year pied-billed grebe--it barely has any pie on its bill.

This grebe was so young that it still had the stripes on its face and was begging for food aggressively from its parent.

The adult bird was trying to preen its feathers, but the younger bird pecked and pecked while peeping in a high pitched tone incessantly.  Periodically the adult would nonchalantly reach down, grab a minnow and hand it to the begging young and then go back to preening.  I wonder how the adults teach the young to get their own food when the young are this aggressive when they are about the same size as the adult. Perhaps the adults just flee in terror of the incessant begging?

Anyway, it was fun to spend time with brown birds with freaky toes.