When do Grebes rush on the water in California?

Hello POTN,

One thing on my bucket list is to see and hopefully photograph Grebes rushing their mating dance. I’m thinking of going to see a friend in southern CA in early April and wondering if that timing will be right to see this exciting activity?

Several Google searches have led me to great photos and explanations but nothing specific as to timing. Thanks POTN community.

Greg

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Hey, Greg

What species of Grebe were you asking about?


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Hi Tom,

Sorry. Clark's or Western.

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I suggest getting on Instagram and doing a search for images that show this behavior, by using whatever hashtags may apply, such as #grebedance #westerngrebe #clarksgrebe etc. . Then I would find images taken in California that are clearly of said behavior, and send messages to the photographers who took them, asking exactly what date the photos were taken on. . Using Instagram in that way is how I do a lot of the wildlife research that I do to prepare for photo trips where I have a specific target species.


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Tom Reichner wrote in post #19354840
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I suggest getting on Instagram and doing a search for images that show this behavior, by using whatever hashtags may apply, such as #grebedance #westerngrebe #clarksgrebe etc. . Then I would find images taken in California that are clearly of said behavior, and send messages to the photographers who took them, asking exactly what date the photos were taken on. . Using Instagram in that way is how I do a lot of the wildlife research that I do to prepare for photo trips where I have a specific target species.


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I suppose Instagram doesn't publish EXIF data, so we can't read the date that the picture was taken?

Capn Jack wrote in post #19354849
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I suppose Instagram doesn't publish EXIF data, so we can't read the date that the picture was taken?
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No .... and even so, I tend not to trust that. Too many photographers have their cameras set to wrong dates and don't care enough to adjust it. May be guilty of that myself a few times over the years ... that's why I have so many pics taken between 2007 and 2015 that have EXIF saying they were taken sometime in the previous century

Besides, research is always most meaningful and most informative when it involves an actual back-and-forth conversation with another human. . One may be surprised at how many photographers offer to guide me around when I'm in their area, or offer to let me stay at their house. . A simple question about a wildlife photo can lead to all sorts of opportunities and far more pertinent info that one ever imagined!

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Thanks Tom and Capn.

E-bird data may be useful here. You can search photos by species, location, and behavior. I did a search for Western Grebe, in California, with behavior as "Courtship, display, or copulation". It will bring up all of the photos that are tagged with these attributes, and you can then look at location, date, etc. Note that some of these photos will not be of birds displaying, but many are and the dates and location should be useful.

Here is a link to that specific search:

https://ebird.org …chmophorus%20oc​cidentalis

You can do a similar search for Clark's Grebe, specific counties in California, etc.

Hi Markmcc,

This was incredibly helpful. I’ve used eBird for years but never knew an expanded search could be made using those filters. You’ve helped me with my question, and showed me a tool I’ll use into the future.

Thousand Thanks.

You are very welcome. There is a wealth of good information in e-Bird, if you can figure out a way to dig it out!!

This also reminds me that I need to take more time to "tag" my pictures with appropriate tags, rather than just adding them to my lists!