“I have wanted to see Grebes rush ever since I saw the first video of Grebes rushing. It is hard to imagine birds walking on water, but the Grebes do just that as part of their elaborate mating ritual.  I saved up and took a trip to California to see the Grebes rush. 

               I had two mornings on Lake Wohlford with a guide. My guide, Krisztina Scheeff of KS Nature Photography, was so nice. She even picked me up at the airport. She drove the boat which had a quiet troll motor so we got very close to the birds. There were about forty grebes that we stayed near and there were two other wads of Grebes with about twenty in each wad that were near us. There were both Clark’s Grebes and Western Grebes. One would call and one or more answered. They swam toward each other then squared off to prepare for the rush. Sometimes it was two or three males rushing to show off for the females. Sometimes it was pairs of males and females.

                I spent another morning in Santee, California. The city has a park with five small ponds on it. Cinnamon Teal, Wood Ducks, and Mallards breed there. Because it is a public park, the ducks are used to people. Sometimes they flushed but they only flew to the next pond. I saw Cinnamon Teal, Wood Ducks, Mallards, Northern Shovelers, American Wigeons. Pintails, Gadwalls, and Ring-necked Ducks.