Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Western Grebes Wintering Along Pacific Grove Shore

Flocks of Western Grebes winter in several areas along the entire Monterey Bay coast. One of those flocks occupies a sheltered cove-like area just south of Lover's Point in Pacific Grove. These wintering birds arrive in September, are seen every day in their neck-over-back position and remain until spring. The number of wintering birds varies from year to year and this year there seem to be fewer than previous years.

Don Roberson tells us in his definitive book "Monterey Birds, second edition", that these wintering ocean flocks nest at Lake San Antonio about 120 miles (as the Grebes fly) inland and south just east of the Santa Lucia coastal mountains.

The courtship dances at Lake San Antonio have been seen year-round while nests and young have been seen from June to December. We are planning a trip to see them in the inland habitat this coming April.

The shot below taken on February 15, 2011 shows a portion of the birds offshore in the area where they have been seen for years. The Grebes are always a welcome sign that everything seems to be right in our usual ocean habitat. We counted 48 birds in this flock which included four Red-breasted Mergansers. There is one Red-breasted Merganser in the shot below.

First some color to keep the flock photo from being "cropped" by the fixed Blog format. It is always a welcome sight to have bright color in February along the ocean in Pacific Grove, California.
The Red-breasted Merganser is left center



























We also read in Don Roberson's book that Western and Clark's grebes are often found together with the Clark's in much fewer numbers. It is difficult to tell which is which from this distance as the typical position is with the neck over the back - seemly asleep but far from it. The flock is constantly on the move, "motoring" in unison, staying more or less together while compensating for the wind and ocean currents.

The shot below is of one Western Grebe (or is it?) that came close to shore to dive and feed. Note that the typical black under the eye distinction is not clearly below the eye. The bill color is definitely not the Clark's distinctive yellow-orange color. The bill here is the more typical olive color of the Western Grebe. Peterson's Field Guide tells us that intermediates are known. After feeding, this individual re-joined the flock and assumed the typical resting position.
We will report on the Lake San Antonio trip later in the spring.

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