{"id":60974,"date":"2018-07-07T05:26:19","date_gmt":"2018-07-07T11:26:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=60974"},"modified":"2018-07-07T06:34:10","modified_gmt":"2018-07-07T12:34:10","slug":"pied-billed-grebe-dive-dive","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/07\/07\/pied-billed-grebe-dive-dive\/","title":{"rendered":"Pied-billed Grebe – Dive! Dive!"},"content":{"rendered":"

Pardon my submarine reference in the title but I’m betting many of my readers are old enough to remember those old WWII movies.<\/p>\n

I seldom see Pied-billed Grebes use this unique diving method but it always amuses me when I do. I’ve reported on this behavior before but those were different photos and this is a different grebe.<\/p>\n

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This shot isn’t part of the series. I’ve only included it to show the angle at which a Pied-billed Grebe normally\u00a0sits on the water and I didn’t get a\u00a0photo like\u00a0it in the actual series. The image is cropped unusually tight\u00a0for another purpose in a different post (to give viewers\u00a0a closer look at the feather the grebe is eating).<\/p>\n

Notice how far the\u00a0junction of the back of the neck and the body is\u00a0from the water’s surface. These birds are quite buoyant.<\/p>\n

The following 4 images are a series in a burst\u00a0without any skips.<\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

But when they use this diving technique they simply sink straight down and disappear with no forward movement. This bird has already started to sink but they don’t stay level during the process. Instead the front of their body goes down first with the tail and head lagging behind. Makes sense – that body shape would be like a wedge sinking in the water which would cause less water resistance.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

At first the process is often slow, though they can control the speed and if they need\u00a0to they can\u00a0sink much faster.\u00a0In this case there’s\u00a0only been slight movement down between the first photo and the second.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

But then\u00a0the descent\u00a0quickens until only the head and tail are sticking up out of the water. I’ve photographed this process where the water level is right at the bottom of the eye\u00a0so we can see only the eye and above and the\u00a0very tip of the tail. And they can hold that position for as long as they like. But usually they don’t.<\/p>\n

Notice from the water ripples that there’s still no forward movement of the bird – none at all. All movement is straight down.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/5.6, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

In this last shot the bird\u00a0had all but disappeared under the surface.<\/p>\n

Here’s how Cornell’s Birds of North America Online describes this process\u00a0they call “Gradual Sinking”.<\/p>\n