One morning last week, on the Grays Harbor bay in Hoquiam, Wash., I was surprised to encounter a flock of grebes.
There were perhaps a dozen of the birds scattered across the bay. I often run across grebes on the Hoquiam River or the bay, but usually I see only a solitary bird or maybe a pair. I don't recall ever seeing as many as a dozen at one time.
In the slanted light just after dawn, and swimming for the most part at substantial distance from shore, the grebes to the west of me presented a perfect opportunity to practice silhouette and minimalist photography.
All the photos for this post were taken with a EF75-300mm lens on my Canon EOS 80D. The lens allowed me to shift my vantage point out into the bay and to capture the grebes clearly at a distance. Unfortunately, I have not mastered color with this lens, which is somewhat new to me. The chromatic aberration in these photos gave them all a horrible purple tint, which was beyond my skill to fix. Hence the decision to share these in black and white.
Thankfully, the photos are mostly about shape and distance, so I think they work as black and white photos.
And, the unfixable color gave me an excuse to create my first ever post for the Black and White Community and to participate in the #monomad challenge (challenge guidelines here). The photo below is my entry for the challenge.
Western Grebe or Clark's Grebe?
Bird identification is a tricky business, even with a bird as distinct as a grebe.
Black and white, tufted head, yellow bill and red eyes, a diving bird with a loonlike appearance ... I thought I had solidly identified these birds as western grebes, but in reviewing the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site All About Birds for this post, I discovered the Clark's grebe, which has a nearly identical appearance and diving behavior.
According to All About Birds:
Western and Clark’s Grebes were considered the same species until 1985, after scientists learned that the two species rarely interbreed (despite sometimes living on the same lakes), make different calls, and have substantial DNA differences.Source
I didn't hear any calls, nor did I have time for a DNA test that morning, so for the purpose of this post I decided to just call them grebes. Though to write "I saw a flock of western grebes" has a more complete or precise feel to it.
Both western grebes and Clark's grebes breed in colonies on freshwater lakes inland, ranging as far from the coast as Minnesota, and then winter on saltwater bodies along the Pacific Coast.
Hoquiam is 12 miles from the Pacific on the tidal Grays Harbor bay. After seeing the flock on the bay, I've noticed more of them during my walks along the river in town: it appears they've chosen the Grays Harbor estuary as their winter home this year.
And a Common Loon
Until my review of All About Birds, I was convinced the following photo was a closeup of a grebe. But it has a shorter, stockier neck, a short dark bill (which even in a bad color photo is clearly not yellow), dark eyes, and no tuft on the head. I think it is most likely a common loon.
Still, it was delightful to have it say 'what's up' that morning. It popped up about 25 yards away
and stayed just long enough for me to focus and snap one photo before diving away.
A Moment of Doubt
I remain convinced that I was photographing a flock of grebes that morning, though I'll admit I had a moment of doubt, as I neared the end of writing this post, when I realized my closeup was not of a grebe. But I think you can see in these photos the tufted (kind of flat-top looking) head and the long, slender neck of a grebe, and most importantly, I was able to spot yellow bills in some of my color originals.
Like I said, though, bird ID is tricky.
Thanks for viewing!