I’ll narrow your odds. He isn’t threatening an overhead rival or predator and he isn’t catching raindrops in his mouth either.
1/2500, f/6.3, 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
Three days ago at Farmington Bay WMA this Pied-billed Grebe swimming in duckweed had been acting weird even before I got my lens on ‘him’ (I don’t know its sex). At first I couldn’t tell what he was doing, even after I had him in my viewfinder. He just kept sticking his beak straight up into the air and opening and closing it as he waved it around. And he did it repeatedly.
Do you have any guesses about the cause of this unusual behavior?
If I had to venture a guess with only this photo as evidence I’d say he was probably swallowing a fish that had just disappeared down his throat. But that wasn’t the case either.
1/1600, f/6.3, 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
He was trying to rid himself of this small and obviously extremely annoying down feather stuck to his bill (apparently air currents kept it out of view in the previous photo and a few others).
Grebes sometimes eat feathers they pull out while grooming and it’s possible that may have been his original intention with this one. But by the time I got my lens on him it seemed obvious that he had no interest in eating it and just wanted to get rid of the damned thing, or so it appeared to me.
Wings are wonderful but in certain situations hands would sure be a welcome alternative.
When shaking his head didn’t work either he resorted to just about the only other practical alternative.
1/2000, f/6.3, 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
The frustrated grebe dove into the water in an apparent attempt to wash it away. I’ll bet it worked too. Those tiny down feathers can be incredibly sticky when they’re wet and this one really didn’t want to go away.
I guess it doesn’t take much to amuse me but I was definitely smiling.
Ron
Huge smiles, and a reminder (not that I needed it) how much I have missed your posts over the last week or so.
What was he/she doing? Messing with our minds. Which is easy in my case.
Loved learning more as I scrolled down too, and chuckling at the yodel comment.
Thanks, EC. And welcome back!
I hope you’ve been OK, Ellie Baby……
Question: What is it with birds and cats – birds eat some feathers and cats will pick up fallen hair from the rug. Why? What is the significance, what is the benefit? It certainly is a mystery to me. Do birds and cats need to eat stuff that makes them regurgitate? That is the only thing that makes sense to me. Cat throw-up hair balls, birds throw-up seed pits or chitin material from invertebrates. Any comment?
Great pictures by the way. Man, you have a ton of duckweed in that pond.
Dick, we have a pretty good idea why grebes eat feathers. This from one of my earliest blog posts:
https://www.featheredphotography.com/blog/2010/10/29/why-grebes-eat-feathers/
Can’t help you with cats…
Thanks, very informative! I guess I’ll stick to my guess with cats for now.
Dogs will lick hair off the rugs too. The problem is when things get…um…hung up, so to speak, and “stuff” is suspended by said hair/fur out the “business end.” 😛
Ron, a pretty cute story and photos to go with it. Glad you are getting out into the world. Good to have some sunshine for photos, I bet.
Thanks
Yup, a little sun is nice for a change. Thanks, Alice.
No problem!!! He just hesrd trump saying whatca great oresident he is and how he’s accomplished mote than any other president…and, like the rest of the world, is reacting with laughter!! There, you have it….☺️
🙂
Even the Grebes are laughing. That should say something! (But he’ll never get it.) Patty, you’ll love to know that even though I’m typing on a laptop, my computer wanted to leave the apostrophe out of he’ll…
Love it!
Charlotte
Thanks, Charlotte.
Some fun posts the last few days Ron. Something has got you in a comical mood.
Brad, these days especially I have to look for a little humor wherever I can find it.
I was going to guess that the Grebe was yodeling… It’s clear that this was fun to watch. And I like the Grebe’s solution to the annoying problem. I’m also guessing that given how uncoordinated Grebes are on land that they are happier with wings than hands, even though a hand would come in “handy” (sorry, it just sort of came out of my typing fingers) at times like this.
PS I did not see Kathy’s comment before I wrote mine. Great minds… 🙂
Love yodelling!!!
Susan, I actually used “handy” when I originally wrote that last sentence but changed it just before publishing the post.
Cute pictures Ron. As I got to the last picture I was thinking that the only way to get rid of that feather was to dive back into the water – and that’s what he did. Fun series.
Everett Sanborn
Prescott AZ
Nice anticipation, Everett!
Delightful humorous series of photos. Love the 1st one as a stand alone but all three together with your writing are really nice.
I appreciate your kind words, Joanne.
When you mentioned the duckweed I figured it was trying to get rid of some of that stuck some place – it can be clingy also! 🙂 Neat pose for sure intently gazing upward.
Your duckweed guess would have made sense given the situation, Judy. I didn’t think of that one.
LOL!! Loved it, Ron!! I think Pied-bill Grebes are so great and I loved all your captures(did I use too many “loves”?). I was wondering if it was trying to cough up a pellet & didn’t even know if they do that – Duh!! What a sense of humour you have!! Nnothing like a good laugh 1st thing in the morning!! I can just see you with this cutie in your viewfinder, wondering what in the name of Hell was it doing!!
Yes, they do cast pellets, Jo Ann though I don’t remember seeing them do it. I’m glad you thought this was funny too. Thanks.
My first guess was the fish thing — either in or out.
Is there an algal bloom as well? I’m using the evil iPad this morning and can’t tell if the green stuff is algae or some other plant matter.
It’s duckweed, Marty. I didn’t notice any algae to speak of.
Thanks for the ID.
‘Bird Logic’…amazing thing to watch. It is surprising that the feather was not visible in the first photo so without your follow-up photos…who could ever figure out what was going on. Proves it pays to get series of photos. Could easily have thought it was practicing a good ‘yodel’! 😉
Kathy, I have six photos of him where I couldn’t see the feather. At first I didn’t see it through my viewfinder either.
That first photo reminded me of a howling coyote… 🙂