Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) are small and often stay in deep waters, but I managed to capture these shots of one yesterday at a suburban pond not far from where I live. If you click on the photos, you can see the grebe’s beautiful eye coloration and the pattern on its bill.
As I was walking along the pond, I initially spotted the little grebe while it was napping. It had drifted a little closer to shore than normally, so I was pretty excited to have a chance to get some shots of this elusive bird. However, the grebe’s head was in the shadows, so I watched and waited, marveling at the patterns in the water.
I captured the second shot below shortly after the grebe started stirring and looked to one side. As it started to swim away, the lighting was almost perfect and I captured the first shot below, a wonderful little side portrait of this Pied-billed Grebe.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love that reflection!
Nice Mike! And Happy Holidays!
This year seems to have been good for them. More than I remember seeing in a long time. Of course not many shots because they are real quick. Nice captures of hard to get birds.
Those patterns are wonderful and image worthy on their own but a pied-billed grebe really makes them special.
Have a very Merry Christmas, Mike.
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