Jordan Lake. They have arrived … early! These are pied-billed grebes. I usually don’t see them until mid November. They are migrants who come down and spend the winter with us before they return north to their breeding waters. I think they’re darn cute.
Jordan Lake: This morning I captured 3 out of 4 pied-billed Grebes. Pretty certain that is two pairs of them. They are about ready to head back north for their breeding season. Enjoy the little grebes!
Jordan Lake: Pied-billed grebes are a winter visitor here. They come down and spend the colder months with us. What I find really neat about the pied-billed grebe is, that like all grebes, it has feet where each toe has a lobe surrounding it. These lobes make the foot look like a tree leaf as you can see here in this photo. This makes the little grebe a very fast underwater swimmer as it dashes about catching fish and crustaceans for its food. I always smile when I see these grebes because they sure look like they are shyly smiling at the world.
The ospreys have returned from South America – welcome home.
One year old bald eagle looking fierce in the morning light.
A very cold eastern bluebird, who like me, was wondering where the warm weather went.
Great blue heron stalking through the shoreline bushes.
Belted kingfisher surveying the waters for his next fish.
The small pied-billed grebe is named after the way the black ring bisects his beak.
The morning light illuminates this Bonaparte’s gull.
Pied-billed grebes would rather dive or run on the water to escape problems than to fly.
This immature grebe carefully watched me but made no attempt to flee.
doc ellen's journey 