Three days ago at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I had some wind to contend with as I was photographing this Clark’s Grebe. It made the water a little choppy and would occasionally ruffle the feathers of one of the birds when it turned its back to the breeze.
The effect varied fairly dramatically.
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
It seems to me that the back feathers of Clark’s and Western Grebes may be unusually long, perhaps as an adaptation for back brooding those fat chicks (which hadn’t arrived yet). At any rate, when the wind caught those feathers just right they would pop up into the air. Here the effect is relatively subdued but…
1/2500, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
at times those feathers were blown askew in every conceivable direction and angle.
1/3200, f/7.1, ISO 640, 500 f/4, 1.4 tc, natural light
Occasionally some of the wing feathers would also get into the act which I thought made for a pretty silly looking grebe.
These photos aren’t great technically as I didn’t have the best light angle on a difficult to expose subject but I thought they made for a fun post on a holiday weekend.
Ron
WOW. Those eyes. Aren’t the eyes everything?
Oh that poor Grebe. Just can’t do a thing with his/her feathers. A stunning bird, and I am amazed at how red their eyes are.
Thank you Ron, big smiles here today.
I’m not familiar with Clark’s Grebe. Interesting ‘hair-do’ they have! These are definitely fun shots.
Susan, Clark’s Grebe was long considered to be a color morph of the Western Grebe and until recently (mid-80s I believe)they were both lumped into the same species.
Western Grebes I know. Thanks, Ron.
Love that last shot! It’s like an elegant mask, the sort some would pay big money to wear to a ball.
Now that you mention it Diane, I see what you mean.
What beautiful shots. I love the total wind blown look. I’ve always wanted to get the chance to catch the grebes doing their water dance but haven’t done so. Maybe one day.
Tanja, It’s not easy catching these birds doing that display though I’ve been lucky enough to photograph it a couple of times. I wish you luck doing so.
Whoa, horse! Those are primaries! Right?
Patty, I think there’s a variety of feather types involved in that last shot but since these birds rarely fly (and only at night when they do) I’m mostly unfamiliar with the anatomy of their spread wings.
The grebe is such an elegant bird..so crisply black and white , detailed with touches of red and orange-yellow… like something in an oriental painting.. My favorite is the second photo with the wind lifting its feathers so stylishly. I especially love the graceful curves of those tail feathers. In the third photo, that bird looks more like me on a bad hair day…only for me, every day is a bad hair day whether the wind’s blowing or not.