One of the Clark’s Grebe behaviors I was able to photograph last week was the adults feeding their chicks. The youngsters would be on the back of one parent while the other one brought in fish for breakfast. They were always small fish, to accommodate the very young chicks.
Some of these aren’t great photos but collectively I think they tell an interesting story. I had been shooting faster action just prior to this sequence so my settings for the first shot aren’t particularly appropriate but then I quickly adjusted.
1/4000, f/6.3, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
The parent bringing in the fish wouldn’t give them directly to the chicks but instead would hand them off to its mate and then that bird would feed the youngsters on its back. Here the parent on the left has just given this small fish to the brooding adult.
1/2500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
The chick in the water knew it had no chance to get the fish while it was there so it immediately made a bee-line for the back of its parent. When they’re this size they still struggle to get on board. Sometimes the parent sticks a leg out backward for the chick to climb up on but this youngster was on its own and was frantic to get up front where the food would be doled out.
1/2500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
I imagine it’s not easy getting up there since they have to work against the grain of the feathers of the adult..
1/2500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
but this chick gave it the old college try and attempted to get up front before its sibling got the fish.
1/2500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
Here the little guy has made it – that’s “him” in the foreground with his sibling behind the parent’s neck. You’ll notice that his feet are still sticking out above the tail of the parent – that’s how stretched out he is to get at the fishy prize.
1/2500, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
Now the question is “who gets the fish?”
1/2000, f/8, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc
In the end all that effort was rewarded as you can see.
A note about exposure for these grebes. When the birds are facing the sun (as they were for most of these shots) the neck whites are devilishly difficult to expose properly. It really hurts to have to delete an otherwise great image because the whites are blown. Just another challenge for the bird photographer…
Ron
Two questions: how did the late comer end up with the fish, and how the heck do you keep getting these killer behavioral sequences? This is a great series of a very photogenic species. (Ps- I know the answer to the second, but I’ll never be up early or often enough to witness it. Lol)
Thank you Mike. I’m pretty sure the reason the “late comer” got the fish is because “he” wasn’t quite so enthusiastic about getting it as its sibling was – that was apparent in some of my other images. Perhaps he had been fed more recently and the parent sensed that.
These are enchanting shots. I just brought my partner down and we oohed and aahed together. Thank you.
I’m delighted to hear that you both enjoyed them Elephant’s Child. I like knowing that my images occasionally bring out some “oohs and aahs”.
Fantastic, educational, and truly amazing photos and descriptions. Thank you.
Thank you Tana. I especially appreciate the “educational” part of your comment – and you know why.
Ron, you keep out-doing yourself. These are awewome images. They tell such a cute story. You were so fortunate to get so close. A few weeks ago, I photographed a rare (for here) Western Grebe, but the closest I could get was about 75 yards. I did some cropping and got acceptable images but nothing like these.
Thanks Bob. Every late spring around here you can often get close to these grebes while they’re hauling around chicks. It’s so much fun!