Horned Grebes

For me, birdwatching, like photography, is just another way of paying attention, seeing things I should have seen in the past but didn’t.

I’m sure I didn’t know what a grebe was a few years ago, much less know the difference between a Horned Grebe and other kinds of grebes. Birding has put me in touch with nature in new ways.

I’ve been watching the Horned Grebes in Port Orchard closely lately, like this one I shot in the middle of March,

Horned Grebe

and watching for the dramatic changes they undergo as they take on their breeding colors. Sunday, at least a few of them had completed their transformation,

Horned Grebe in breeding colors

making it clear why they are named Horned Grebes.

I was actually a little shocked when I looked through the lens and saw

Horned Grebe in breeding colors

the red eyes shining through the grebe’s ‘horn,” a rather intimidating sight.

Birding has made me much more aware of the seasons. I can almost set my calendar by the birds I see and the color of their feathers.

Most of all, though, birding provides me with another way of seeing the beauty that pervades our world when we just take the time to see it.