Western Grebe Archives - Window to Wildlife - Photography by Jim Edlhuber

I made a run down to Milwaukee’s lakefront this morning to see if the Western Grebe was still present. It was, and I located the bird east of Discovery World but it was on the move and headed south. It spent the rest of the morning at the south end of Lakeshore State Park on the lake side. The bird has hung around now for at least 6 days. It typically hangs out with American Coots but sometimes was seen near Mallards too. A stunning bird out of it’s normal range from the dakotas and west just visiting our area. How long will it hang around? I guess time will tell. A sunny morning with some clouds early, cold northeast winds off the lake, it felt like winter is coming. Images were taken on October 24, 2016.

Western Grebe

Binomial name: Aechmophorus occidentalis

Category: Grebes

Size: 25” long, 24” wing span

Weight: 3.3 lb

Preening

Best friends!

Preening

Coming around the corner

I had wanted to see the Western Grebe that was recently reported on Milwaukee’s Lakefront but was tied up until today. I went down to the lakefront early this morning and found the Western Grebe northeast of the Art Museum. The normal range for this bird is the dakotas and west which makes well out its of its range and a great visitor. It never came close to the shore but stayed a distance to give nice views with binoculars. The grebe really did no diving for food the first hour, but then that changed for the next couple hours as it did some diving. With pedestrians walking the walk along the shore for the time I was there I think that kept it from coming in close, my opinion. A few fishing boats that came into the harbor moved it around the area too, sometimes moving it pretty far out. The bird seemed nervous at times, who knows why. Not a life bird for me as I got the one at Bradford Beach back on 11/2010. Thanks to Lorri for finding this cool bird, and sharing it. A sunny sky to start the day but it then soon clouded over with stiff winds and cold temps from the north. Images were taken on October 21, 2016.