Pied-billed Grebe | Mike Powell

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Odd couple

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Aythya affinis, Aythya marila, Canon 50D, Greater Scaup, Grebe, Lesser Scaup, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, odd couple, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, scaup, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 14, 2022| 7 Comments »

They made a bit of an odd couple, but this scaup and this Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) seemed happy together as they paddled around in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge on Monday. I have the distinct impression that birds are increasingly willing to tolerate the presence of other species during the winter months and it is not uncommon for me to spot mixed flocks of birds in the water and on the land.

The Pied-billed Grebe has a very distinctive look and is easy to identify. When it comes to the scaup, however, identification is a bit more problematic, because there are Greater Scaups (Aythya marila) and Lesser Scaups (Aythya affinis). Lesser Scaups are somewhat smaller than Greater Scaups and their heads are shaped differently (the Lesser has a thinner, more peaked head than the Greater Scaup, which has a more round head), but I have never been able to tell the two species apart.

I really like the visual comparison in the photo between the size and shape of the bodies and bills of these two swimming birds as well as their very different coloration. Birds that look different from each other can live together in peace. Why is it that we humans can’t do the same?

odd couple

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Local pond

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Aythya collaris, Canon 50D, Kingstowne VA, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Ring-necked duck, Tamron 150-600mm on December 31, 2021| 2 Comments »

Early in the winter, several species of water birds migrate to a water-retention pond in a nearby community called Kingstowne and they generally remain there until spring. The water in the center of the pond is quite deep and the species that like to dive for their food (versus those that “dabble” on the surface of the water) spend most of their time there.

Last Sunday I managed to capture a few long distance shots of the newest visitors, including a Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris) and a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps). A quick visual comparison of the two species shows how remarkably different they are in appearance.

Ring-necked Ducks have beautiful markings and striking yellow eyes, but their overall shape is fairly typical for a duck. Pied-billed Grebes, on the other hand, has such distorted proportions with overly large heads, short bills, and chunky bodies, that they always looks cartoonish to me. You can’t see it in the photo, but Pied-billed Grebes also have lobed feet, rather than the webbed feet of most ducks.

This pond is only a mile or so from where I live, so it is a really convenient location when I want just a short outing with my camera. It is adjacent to a shopping center, so it is not exactly like going out into the wilds, but it serves as a kind of oasis for me, a place where I can drink in the beauty of nature and restore my inner balance.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Coming and going

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Bald Eagle, Branta canadensis, Canada Geese, Canon 50D, Haliaeetus leucocephalus, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbr on November 18, 2021| 16 Comments »

There was a lot of bird activity on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge both in the air and on the water. Unfortunately most of the action took place well out of the optimal range of my camera, so I had to be content with capturing long distance photos.

Flocks of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) periodically announced their presence as they passed by. A large flock of crows was equally vocal as it harassed a pair of Bald Eagles (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) perched peacefully in a distant tree. Only the shy little Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) were silent as they paddled about, periodically diving in search of food.

I spent several hours walking about, listening and observing, enjoying the fresh air and the beauty of natural surroundings, unconcerned that I was not able to capture amazing photos during this outing. That is the uncertain fate of a nature photographer. To borrow a line from Paul in his letter to the Philippians, I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.

I returned home from this walk in the wild feeling renewed and refreshed—that was my biggest reward.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Getting along

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Oxyura jamaicensis, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Ruddy Duck, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on January 23, 2021| 12 Comments »

Isn’t it wonderful that birds that are so different in appearance can get along so well? Why is it that we find it so difficult to do the same?

I spotted this Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) and Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) swimming together on Tuesday at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. I was immediately struck by the diminutive size of the Ruddy Duck—I somehow had the mistaken impression that Pied-billed Grebes were smaller than all ducks.

I decided to include separate images of the two species that I captured earlier in January to give you a better look at them. The color of the water in each of the three shots gives you an indication of what the weather was like on the day when they were taken. It has been a really variable month weather-wise, with almost as many days above 50 degrees (10 degrees C) as below freezing and barely a trace of snow.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Swimming grebe

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon SX50, Grebe, Kingstowne VA, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps on January 30, 2020| 5 Comments »

Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) are rather strange looking birds. Their heads are unusually large and blocky, their bills are short and thick, and they have virtually no tails. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology website describes them with these words, “The Latin genus name for “grebe” means “feet at the buttocks”—an apt descriptor for these birds, whose feet are indeed located near their rear ends. This body plan, a common feature of many diving birds, helps grebes propel themselves through water. Lobed (not webbed) toes further assist with swimming. Pied-billed Grebes pay for their aquatic prowess on land, where they walk awkwardly.”

Most of the times when I see a Pied-billed Grebe it is either disappearing from sight as it dives for food or it is swimming away from me. I captured this shot last week as the grebe was in fact swimming away, but paused for a moment and looked to the side. Yes, this is the notorious “butt shot” that we photographers try to avoid, but I like the way that you can see some of the details of the birds eye and the water beaded up on its back and decided to post it anyways.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Looking back at 2019—part two

Posted in Birds, Dragonflies, dragonfly, Insects, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged 2019, 2019 retrospective, 2019 review, Bald Eagle, Blue-faced Meadowhawk, crab spider, Eastern Ringtail, favorite photos, halloween pennant, Handsome Meadow Katydid, Hooded Merganser, Osprey, Pied-billed Grebe, Sable Clubtail on January 7, 2020| 22 Comments »

A week ago I did a retrospective posting on some of my favorite photos from the first half of 2019 and alerted readers that a second posting would appear “in the next few days.” Here at last is part two—click here if you missed the first installment. As was the case in the initial posting, I went through my postings month by month and selected two photos for each month. I have provided a link to the individual postings in the captions of the photos to make it easier for interested readers to see the images in the context of the original postings, which often include additional photos and explanatory information.

If you look carefully at the dates, you may notice that I did not include any photos from November in this posting. As many of you may recall, I was in Paris for three weeks in November. After my first posting, one reader suggested that I do a separate posting for Paris, rather than be forced to select two photos from the many that I posted of my adventures in Paris. I decided to follow that recommendation, so hopefully there will be a third and final posting of my look back at 2019 sometime “soon.”

Sable Clubtail

Sable Clubtail dragonfly, July 6, 2019 Sable Clubtail

Halloween Pennant

Halloween Pennant dragonfly July 31, 2019 Perching Halloween Pennant

Osprey

Osprey, August 3, 2019, No sushi for me

Eastern Ringtail

Eastern Ringtail dragonfly, August 5, 2019 Getting down with an Eastern Ringtail

crab spider

Crab spider, September 7, 2019, White-banded Crab Spider

Handsome Meadow Katydid

Handsome Meadow Katydid September 10, 2019 My favorite insect?

Blue-faced Meadowhawk

Blue-faced Meadowhawk dragonfly, October 2, 2019 Blue-faced Meadowhawk in October

Bald Eagle

Bald Eagle October 16, 2019 Bald Eagle Takeoff

Hooded Merganser duck December 7, 2019 Hoodie Season

Pied-billed Grebe

Pied-billed Grebe December 24, 2019 Portrait of a Pied-billed Grebe

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Portrait of a Pied-billed Grebe

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne VA, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm on December 24, 2019| 5 Comments »

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.

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Autumn grebe

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Grebe, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on November 1, 2019| 6 Comments »

I do not know for sure if Pied-bill Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) are migratory, but I had not seen any in a long time when I spotted a small flock of them on Tuesday in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Pied-billed Grebes have a rather unusual and distinctive look—especially the bill— that makes them relatively easy to identify. Northern Virginia, where I live, is far enough south that it is a destination for some birds that will overwinter here, while many other species will pass through on their migration southward.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, “The Latin genus name for “grebe” means “feet at the buttocks”—an apt descriptor for these birds, whose feet are indeed located near their rear ends. This body plan, a common feature of many diving birds, helps grebes propel themselves through water. Lobed (not webbed) toes further assist with swimming. Pied-billed Grebes pay for their aquatic prowess on land, where they walk awkwardly.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pied-billed Grebe in a pond

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon SX50, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, poly on December 3, 2018| 2 Comments »

The gentle paddling of this Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) produced such wonderful patterns in the water that it was easy to fight the temptation to crop this image more closely. This is another one of the waterbirds that appeared recently at a pond in a nearby suburban neighborhood.

Virtually all of the visiting birds are skittish enough that they will swim away toward the center of the pond as I approach. Fortunately for me they swim a lot more slowly than they fly, so I generally have a chance to track them as they swim, hoping they will turn their heads periodically to the side.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pied-billed Grebe

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm on November 13, 2018| 3 Comments »

Although Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) swim like ducks and dive like ducks, it only takes a quick look at one to see that they definitely are not ducks. The shape of the bill and of the body are quite different from those of a duck. I’ve always found the overall look the Pied-billed Grebe to be so unusual that it looks almost cartoonish to me.

I spotted this grebe yesterday in a small suburban pond not far from where I live. This little bird repeatedly was diving underwater. presumably in search of food, though I never saw him catch anything. If you look closely at the photos, you can see droplets of water on the body of the grebe and, in some cases, on his face.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pied-billed Grebe in November

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm on November 30, 2017| 1 Comment »

Although they behave like diving ducks, Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) are members of an entirely different family and have small, distinctive bills that make them easy to identify. They tend to hang out in deeper water, are in constant motion, and are pretty small, which makes it a challenge to get a good shot of one. I spotted this grebe this past weekend at the same little suburban pond where I observed the Hooded Mergansers and Wood Duck that have been featured recently in recent blog posts.

As I do research on my subjects, I often run across quirky little facts about them. I smiled when I read the following information about Pied-billed Grebes on the website of the Cornell Lab of Ornithology:

“The Latin genus name for “grebe” means “feet at the buttocks”—an apt descriptor for these birds, whose feet are indeed located near their rear ends. This body plan, a common feature of many diving birds, helps grebes propel themselves through water. Lobed (not webbed) toes further assist with swimming. Pied-billed Grebes pay for their aquatic prowess on land, where they walk awkwardly.”

I haven’t yet seen grebes out of the water, but I am really curious now to get a look at their feet.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Pretty grebe

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on February 12, 2017| 3 Comments »

Recently I posted an image of a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps) that prompted one reader to comment that the grebe looked like a “poorly drawn duck.” Now I’ll admit that the shape and proportions of a grebe are a bit unusual, but I was sure that with the right angle and lighting I could manage to take a beauty portrait of this little bird. I’m not sure that I succeeded fully, but I don’t feel at all uncomfortable characterizing the bird in this image as a “pretty grebe.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Winter grebe

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm on February 4, 2017| 1 Comment »

One of the most unusual-looking water birds that I occasionally see is the Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), like this one that I spotted in a small, man-made pond yesterday in Kingstowne, a suburban community near where I like in Northern Virginia.

According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology the Latin genus name for “grebe” means “feet at the buttocks.” And I thought “grebe” sounded funny just by itself—imagine having that Latin name as part of your name.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Grebes and Buffleheads

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Bucephala albeola, bufflehead, Canon 50D, Grebe, Huntley Meadows Park, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm on March 22, 2016| 8 Comments »

The early morning light was a beautiful golden orange yesterday morning at Huntley Meadows Park and I was thrilled when I spotted a pair of Pied-billed Grebes (Podilymbus podiceps) and a Bufflehead couple (Bucephala albeola), two species of water birds that I rarely have encountered there.

I took these shots from a pretty good distance away, so I initially wasn’t sure what kind of birds they were. WhenI took a quick look afterwards at a couple of the images, the shapes and markings of these birds were so different from the usual birds that I knew I needed to do a little research. Fortunately they were not hard to find in my identification guide.

Somehow I can’t help but smile when I speak aloud the names of these two birds—they seem a little silly and slightly pejorative, though not overtly rude. I can imagine a grizzled cowboy confronting another and saying, “You’re nothing but a pied-billed grebe,” and the other cowboy responding, “And, you, you’re a bufflehead.” (My favorite bird name that makes a great cowboy cuss word, though, has to be the yellow-bellied sapsucker.)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Big-eyed Grebe

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Grebe, Kingstowne, Pied-billed Grebe, Podilymbus podiceps, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 29, 2014| 8 Comments »

As I gazed out into the center of a small, man-made pond, I spotted gulls and geese and a few ducks. Suddenly a small bird swam into view that I couldn’t identify. It looked a bit like a duck, but the bill seemed to be very different.

I’m stepping out into the unknown by speculating that this might be a Pied-billed Grebe (Podilymbus podiceps), although it doesn’t quite match any photos that in my identification guide or that I could find on-line. I wonder if it is a juvenile bird. I would welcome a clarification, correction, or confirmation from more experienced birders. Thanks in advance for your assistance.

As you can tell, it was a bright, sunny day when I took this shot this past weekend, a welcome respite from the gray days of winter. Alas, it is cloudy again today, with rain forecast for much of the day.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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