Grebe Panic

These aren’t great images technically but I thought they documented a fascinating phenomenon well enough.

Yesterday there were thousands of these grebes at the first bridge along the Antelope Island causeway.  They were actively feeding at the current boundary where the water coming under the bridge met the still water in the north arm of the Great Salt Lake so they were bunched up in incredibly thick masses.  Several species of gulls were also present.

Each time a gull would pass over the grebes, those directly underneath the gulls would panic and dive into the very shallow water in front of the gull which would create quite the stir in the water.  Those grebes just a few inches to either side didn’t react which created a dramatic visual phenomenon as the frothy splash moved in front of and directly beneath the gull.

Those times the gulls flew along the length of the mass of grebes the “splash” would travel exactly the same speed as the gull for perhaps 75 yards.  This was one of the few times when shooting birds that I wish I’d practiced more with the video capabilities of my Canon 7D.  That would be a video that I’d like to see many times as it was quite the spectacle to watch.

Ron