Grebe

[dadas115]

Here is a pied-billed grebe that I ran across this past weekend. I hope you folks like it.

Greg

[paulnj]

As a birder first and photog second.....

I wish I had time to get grebe images like this in my birding trips! Grebes live an hour from my house, so I don't get in that area unless out birding with a few friends!

BTW... Brazos Bend had a least grebe last week, it may still be there?

[dadas115]

Paul,

Brazos Bend had at least four least grebes all summer and still has at least a pair there now. I suspect that they will be breeding there again this year.

Here is one that I saw on 1/1/06

http://i.pbase.com/o4/82/193082/1/54...MG_5326web.jpg

Greg

[paulnj]

Besides the editing, which is were I fall short, how do you get images like this?

What gear are you using?
Do you stalk your prey or sit and wait?

Having birded brazos and a bunch of places from high island to gaveston and far above tyler, I know that texas birds seem to be easier to shoot than NJ birds, but these images you post are beyond my stalk my prey because I'm a birder style

[dadas115]

Paul,

I am not very good at editing either, it is certainly my weakest point so I try extra hard to get everything right in the camera.

My gear of choice these days has been a Canon Digital Rebel XT and EF 500mm f/4.5L USM lens. I like the setup because it is light and compact for the focal length and lens speed. The 500 is the old model and I bought is used at a good price because the finish was already pretty beat up. The beat up finish is part of the appeal of this rig as I am a lot less worried about getting the lens dirty or scratched than I would be with say a nice shiny new 500mm f/4L IS USM. Also because of the reduced size, weight and relatively low cost I tend to have the rig with me all the times which means I get to take advantage of more photo opps.

Generally I hike around and look and listen for any wildlife in the area. When I find a spot with some activity I try to be very still and wait for the birds/wildlife to approach me. It doesn’t always work but sometimes it really pays off big time. This also gives me a chance to really observe the birds doing their daily activities which I always find to be interesting. I certainly don’t see as many species in a day as some of my fast-moving birder friends but I think I get to see the birds I find a lot more in-depth with this approach.

The least grebes are pretty darn shy at Brazos Bend SP and I think that is why they are hardly ever reported though they are there if you really look for them. Pictures like the one above are generally the result of several trips and just hitting the location at the right time. Usually when I find a least grebe in the park it is at a substantial distance and in a partially obscured position. For the above picture I happened to hit the park on a slow day and there weren’t a lot of guests walking about to frighten the bird away. I simply sat at the edge of the lake behind a fallen log and waited as the grebe worked his way along the side of the lake along with a couple of its coot friends.

Greg