Pied-billed Pellet
Hanging out at North Lake in Golden Gate Park last Sunday I watched the Pied-billed Grebes meandering around in all their fuzzy glory, chasing each other and delineating their territories. This one took a break from the festivities to bathe, have a drink, and then do something I’ve never seen a Grebe do… expel a pellet.
Here is the preparatory stage… working it up the gullet.
And there it goes! The orange color must be exoskeletons of crustaceans?
And were back to fuzzy cuteness again. Watching them this breeding season should be great fun.
Bird Light Wind 
Wonderful! But then… when are your images NOT wonderful!!
April 17, 2012 at 4:58 am
this is what I mean when I say: right moment and right place …! anyway – as always – beautiful images. It seems that anyone is there around but not aware that observing will – maybe – [lead] to such a result
April 17, 2012 at 7:26 am
Very cool! A lot of birds do pellets, owls are just the famous ones 🙂 Did you know that Pied-billed Grebes (which I USED to call Cutie-Pied-Billed) can be very violent towards other grebes? A friend of mine captured on film a Pied-billed attacking and killing an Eared Grebe! It was horrible to see, and I had to stop calling them Cutie’s after that, but I still appreciate them. I was told it’s territory-based. Nature never ceases to surprise.
April 17, 2012 at 7:36 am
True, Maggie! We call it a “hork” when an owl does it ; )
Your pics are truly awesome!
April 17, 2012 at 3:26 pm
amazing pics….:-)
April 17, 2012 at 10:38 pm
Breathtaking imagery…perfectly captured.
April 19, 2012 at 1:39 pm
I love the grebes. I saw my first Western Grebe yesterday. Love your photos, Walter.
April 19, 2012 at 1:56 pm
A great sequence of images…
April 19, 2012 at 2:14 pm
you’re such a great photographer, and a nice photo blogger too. 🙂 keep it up.
April 19, 2012 at 6:17 pm
beautiful pics…lovely
April 19, 2012 at 11:56 pm
Wonderful clips. add more
April 23, 2012 at 12:07 pm
so cute!! =)
April 24, 2012 at 3:29 am
Thank you infinitely, Walter. Really needed to be transported this morning – your BLW never fails.
April 24, 2012 at 8:56 am
How very beautiful. I feel so fresh just looking at these birds. It’s all so clean and pure. These photos seem to look into another world.
April 25, 2012 at 3:25 pm