Since we didn’t see a single grebe with babies, we wondered if the grebes we saw in pairs were courting.
That made us wonder if this strange lifting of their legs
was part of a courtship ritual.
Nope. A little online research revealed that this behavioris called “foot-shipping” and is even used by chicks to warm themselves. Makes sense since the water is cold and the rest of the body is insulated by feathers.
While watching the Forster Tern diving at the Bear River headquarters I heard a very unusual sound coming from a nearby post and looked around to see this Great-Tailed Grackle, a bird I’ve never even heard of before.
Clearly preoccupied with the circling tern, it ignored me as I snapped shots.
When it finally noticed me, it took off, clearly showing why it is named Great-Tailed.
I seldom stop at the Bear River Migratory Refuge headquarters, but I was fascinated by the birds we saw there on this trip, particularly this Forster’s Tern.
I particularly liked the symmetry of this shot,
but there were so many good shots that I found it hard to choose between them.
Heck, I was even happy when the tern landed nearby and seemed to scold me for interfering with its hunting.
What do you do when you discover that half of the refuge is dry? First, you spend a lot of time looking at very, very parched ground since there isn’t much else you can do. If you’re lucky, you spot a bird taking advantage of new habitats, like this Curlew,
and, for the first time, see it fish in a stream.
And when you get back to a wet area you can watch a male Ruddy Duck
trying to attract a mate by blowing some impressive bubbles.
You might even chance on an Eastern Kingbird sitting on one of the few branches to be found around what is left of the pond.
Magically, places like Malheur or Bear River manage to attract wildlife even under extreme conditions.