Grebes in a "rushing" display
Aechmophorus sp.
Western or Clark's Grebe · San Diego · 6 March 2026
Two grebes in a "rushing" display on a San Diego lake: a pair reared almost upright, wings folded back and necks arched in unison, sprinting side by side across the surface for several yards before dropping back down. Western and Clark's Grebes both do it, on the lakes of the West where they breed, and it is a pair-bonding ritual rather than aggression.
Both species perform it, occasionally even in mixed pairs, which is part of why they went unsplit as a single species until 1985. At this range and angle there isn't enough to call which species this pair belongs to, or whether they are a matched pair at all.
Birds, insects, plants and other wildlife, mostly from Brooklyn, with some from further afield.
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