Update--breeding grebes at Lake Henry

Yesterday I stopped by Lake Henry to check on the Clark's and Western Grebes that have been breeding there. I found several parent's with dependent juveniles like this Clark's Grebe swimming behind it's parent. There were also some grebes still nesting in the floating vegetation that formed a mat on the lake (visible in this pic). If anyone can identify the floating vegetation, shown in this pic (click on the pic to enlarge it for a close-up of the vegetation), I would appreciate your noting what it is--just click on the "comment" link at the bottom of the post. SeEtta

Juvenile Clark's Grebes practice independence

The juvenile Clark's Grebe in the top pic doesn't appear ready to be far from it's parent though it appears too large to ride on the parent's back. I have seen some this side at least try to climb onto the parent's back but the parents seemed to discourage it by swimming away. As can be seen, the juvenile has it's bill wide open--it may be calling to the parent to feed it.
The young Clark's Grebe in the bottom pic was swimming about 20 feet away from than the parent grebe that sleeping (they sleep on the water with their heads tucked in). It does appear to be an older chick (though not as old as the one in the top pic) and apparently both it and the parent considered it old enough to practice a little independence while the parent got some shut-eye. Fortunately this juvenile and it's parent were near the large vegetative mat on the lake which motor boaters and ski-doos stay away from as the vegetation clogs their blades.

Note: these pics came out better than the ones I posted previously due to having a sunny day rather than the cloudy days when I was there before. Good light is really important when taking distant pics like these with a zoom lens(the grebes were about a hundred or more feet away. SeEtta

Grebes still with babies on their backs

I made a quick trip to Lake Henry yesterday and was rewarded by the sight of a number of Clark's and Western Grebes still with chicks on their backs and some juvenile grebes learning to be independent. These pics are of a Clark's Grebes that was still "back-brooding" (brooding their young on their backs) its chick.
The downside of the trip was the many ski-doos and motorboats that were on the shore near the 40 recreational vehicles that were already camped there and there would likely be a number more arriving later yesterday and today with their motorboats and ski-doos. While I was there, I watched 2 ski-doos driving very fast across the lake causing grebes to dive for their lives.

The really sad thing is that parent grebes will avoid diving with young chicks on their backs until a real emergency as their offspring can drown. It's really unfortunate that recreationists consider their recreational participation more important than survival of birds and other wildlife--tis is true of other motorized recreationists (like those with ATV's) and even non-motorized recreationists (eg, climbers who disturb nesting raptors).

This includes birders who consider their observation and photographing of birds more important than the birds' welfare, especially when it comes to pursuing rare species or those that are listed as Threatened or Endangered. Indeed it's not just selfish ski-dooers that are a threat to birds but birders who should know better. SeEtta

Some lower Arkansas Valley lakes

Yesterday I had a meeting in Rocky Ford so took the opportunity to check out some of the lakes down that way. Though Lake Cheraw was just about 2/3 full, the rest were full to very full. This is due to being filled for irrigation storage as the water use rights belong mostly due farmers and ranchers in the area. The water levels are higher than in the past few years when most of Colorado was in the grip of a drought and water storage was reduced a lot. Following are the highlights:

Lake Holbrook (just nw of La Junta)--Horned Grebes in gorgeous alternate (breeding) plumage like those in the photos posted below at Brush Hollow. I saw several W. Grebes in addition to hundreds of common waterfowl.

Lake Cheraw (just ne of La Junta-there were waterfowl but all distant.

Blue Lake--(north of Las Animas) about 20 Am White Pelicans, some white-headed gulls, several hundred white geese (mostly Snow but usually would have some Ross'Geese)that haven't migrated north yet, some W. Grebes and Clark's Grebes in addition to common waterfowl. I also found a few N. Shovelers including the two in this photo at a drainage pond just south of the lake.

Lake Meredith--(north of Rocky Ford-I spotted 3 female Greater Scaup, a few Pintails, a number of Aechmorphorus grebes (including at least 2 Clark's Grebes), many N. Shovelers, many Ruddy Ducks, many distant gulls and hundreds of other common waterfowl.

Ponds across from the Ordway feedlot (which is right near Lake Meredith)-4 male Cinnamon Teal in beatiful alternate (breeding) plumage.

There were the usual Horned Larks and lots of singing Western Meadowlarks in the fields. I also saw several Red-tailed Hawks and one Harlan's Hawk. It was overcast all afternoon so difficult to get photos.

SeEtta