Western Grebe Photos

Photography by Terry Sohl

My Favorite: Such a fun species to watch in late April and early May, when Western Grebes arrive and start pairing off. Lake Whitewood is a location that always has many dozens of breeding pairs. On the day of this photo (July 12th, 2020), there were probably 200+ grebes visible on the big lake, many close the highway that runs along the south edge of the lake. I thought it was probably too late to get photos of the young grebes still riding their parent's back, and indeed, most chicks were larger and moving around on their own. But there were a few grebe families that must have nested a little later. Here we have a "backseat driver" giving mom advice on how to swim.

Note that the vast majority of photos below are from Lake Whitewood. I don't quite understand the specific habitat requirements of Western Grebes. I bird around Lake Thompson a lot, the biggest natural water body in the state, and one that's full of fish. And yet...I don't see very many (if any) Western Grebes on Lake Thompson. Lake Whitewood is just a few miles away, is smaller (although still a very large water body), and it always has tons of breeding birds.

Western Grebe - Aechmophorus occidentalis


Western Grebe 1 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 2 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 3 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 4 April 19th, 2007 Point Reyes National Seashore, California

Western Grebe 5 April 19th, 2007 Point Reyes National Seashore, California	Western Grebe 6 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 7 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 8 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Western Grebe 9 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 10 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 11 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 12 May 14th, 2010 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Western Grebe 13 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 14 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 15 April 26th, 2015 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 16 April 26th, 2015 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Western Grebe 17 April 23rd, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 18 April 23rd, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 19 April 23rd, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 20 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Western Grebe 21 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 22 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 23 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 24 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota

Western Grebe 25 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 26 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 27 July 12th, 2020 Lake Whitewood, South Dakota	Western Grebe 28 May 11th, 2019 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota

Western Grebe 29 May 11th, 2019 Western Minnehaha County, South Dakota