Pied-billed Grebe on the Tuolumne River Parkway Trail

If it seems like you've heard of Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) a lot lately on this blog, you would be right. I've been doing this blog for almost four years now, and I've mentioned Pied billed Grebes just four times, but two of those have been in the last three weeks. And now again today. Why? They've appeared on my section of the Tuolumne River, the Parkway Trail, and they've just been daring me to take pictures. This one was in the slough at the west end of the trail, and the sun angle and ripples on the water combined to make a memorable scene.

They are very shy, but as I walked back towards the stairwell, I was able to get a closer shot of the bird in the willow thickets. I've been watching the river along the trail carefully for two years now, so it seems to me that I would have noticed these birds if they were present, but I never have until last month. The newly arrived Common Goldeneyes are also still hanging out. Today they had moved downstream to the pond across from the stairwell at the west end of the trail.

Pied-billed Grebes in some New Places, on the Tuolumne River and the Willms Road

It's been a whole two weeks since I posted some pictures of a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge, and I still think they're the best ones I've gotten so far. This week, though, they've popped up in a couple of other places where I've not seen them before. The first two pictures were taken at the Willms Ranch stock pond, where one was swimming about. It stood out because it didn't spook as easily as all the American Coots. They are not an unusual sight there, as birders report them regularly. But this the first one that I've noticed on that particular body of water. Willms Pond is a couple of miles south of Knights Ferry on Willms Road in the Sierra Nevada foothills

The other sighting was a little bit more unusual, being the first reported on my stretch of the river according to eBird. That's not a great surprise, because the Tuolumne Parkway Trail is new and is only beginning to be visited on a regular basis by the serious birders (as opposed to the casual amateurs like me). They've been seen just downstream by kayakers, but none have been noted for about four or five miles upstream, in the vicinity of Modesto Reservoir and Hawkins Pond. I've seen this small grouping of two to five of them in the smooth stretch of the river just downstream of the stairwell.

Pied-billed Grebe at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge

It doesn't take much of excuse to get Mrs. Geotripper and I outdoors. A hint of needed yardwork here, some house chores there, and rumors of a rare bird at some refuge will do the trick nicely. We were at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge yesterday and didn't see any of the rumored birds, but we got some nice sightings of the more common species. My best surprise and favorite shots of day were of this Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) that popped up in the water right next to our vehicle.

"Popped up" is literally what it did. Pied-billed Grebes have been described as part submarine, given their tendency to dive underwater rather than fly when dangers appear. This one was feeding in the reeds, came up for a moment, and disappeared as quickly as it appeared.

Pied-billed Grebe (and trailing flock) at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge

During the winter, bird watching at our Great Valley refuges is relatively straightforward. There are thousands, even tens of thousands of migratory geese and cranes, and one can look practically any direction and see all manner of large charismatic bird species. At other times of the year it can be a bit of a challenge. A great many summer residents have arrived and they are having babies, and it makes sense that they would want to be inconspicuous until the chicks are grown enough to fend for themselves.

We were at the San Luis National Wildlife Refuge last week and made a stop at the nature trail near the visitor center. At first glance not much was moving. At that point the value of binoculars or a powerful zoom lens became apparent. I saw something moving in the brown vegetation in the center of the picture above. I could barely make it out.

It looked like some strange aquatic beast periscoping out of the water. Then there were more of them, and then momma appeared. She was a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) with a flock of four chicks!

The Pied-billed Grebes are described as half-bird, half-submarine, given their penchant for constantly diving. They can be very frustrating to photograph for that reason. Invariably, the moment I have one in focus it disappears and reappears somewhere far away.

It's moments like this that I really appreciate a 60x zoom. I was able to see these cute little chicks from probably 150 yards away, get some almost-focused pictures, and I didn't have to disturb them.

For Pi Day, A Pied-billed Grebe at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge

No, I wasn't original enough to think of this for myself (U.S. Fish and Wildlife got there ahead of me), but the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) was already scheduled as my next bird post, and 3/14, Pi Day, is the perfect day to do it.

We were at the Merced National Wildlife Refuge on Friday, and it was delightful spring day, even though spring is technically still a week away. We saw several Pied-billed Grebes, but had a challenging time getting sharp pictures. They're described as "bird submarines", and it's true enough. At just the moment they would come into focus, they would suddenly disappear, and reappear someplace far away.

The desire to submerge makes a great deal of sense in most situations. Most of their predators, like hawks or eagles, are excellent flyers, and the grebes aren't. If they try to escape by flying they'll be picked off readily. In diving, they aren't as likely to be followed (all bets are off in alligator country, though). They are common birds, found in freshwater environments across North and South America.

Have a great Pi Day!