Eared Grebe

[Kerry Perkins]

From the Salton Sea, in early morning light. I was lying down on the "sand" (there is no sand there, the beach is made up of billions of barnacle shells) only a few feet from these little birds. I spent about a half hour just sneaking up on them and after a while they just ignored me. I was on a little "bridge" in the middle of an inlet, so I could get right down to the level of the water. These little guys are constantly diving for fish, and this one was just about to take the plunge.

7D, EF400mm f/5.6L
Manual mode, f/8@1/1250 ISO 400 WB 4700K
AI Servo autofocus, hand-held no flash

[Andrew Merwin]

Kerry, a great capture. I like the water droplets & that red eye against the dark plumage is beautiful. I like the pose also. It is neat to see how the dive starts. I also like how the eye pops up in the reflection.

[Ravi Hirekatur]

Kerry,
beautiful image. I like the colors, the reflection, the red eye and the pose. You could crop some of the space behind the bird, but that would also remove all the droplets that I like. It would also be nice to have some more space in front of the bird. I will see what other say about it.

[Paul Guris]

Love the image, especially the pose. I'm stunned you got water at the Salton Sea to look that nice. I hope you took a very thorough shower and burned your clothes after lying on the ground there. The birds at the Salton Sea are amazing but the place should probably be a superfund site.

[SteveYoung]

Great shot, getting those little guys before they duck under the water is tricky.

[Jeff Cashdollar]

Kerry,

Great combination of color, form and gesture in balance. The water color almost overpowers the subject but you mixed it well. The frame is well controlled and you get a star for getting this close.

Just curious, do you have a ground pod, I do not and wonder if they help - well done friend.

[Kerry Perkins]

Paul, the Salton Sea is not polluted. Period. This is an urban legend. I have been studying, visiting, and photographing there for the last ten years. The water is tested regularly by state and federal monitors. What you are saying is just not true. The bird die-offs of years past were due to algal blooms, which consumed all the oxygen in the water and caused the fish to die. There hasn't been one of those for years. What causes these blooms is agricultural nutrients that enter the water from local applications of fertilizer, which is not toxic at all.

[Paul Guris]

Kerry, I respectfully disagree. Per the people (including biologists) I know who bird the Salton Sea and a quick Google of papers from California universities, the Salton sea is polluted by more than fertilizer. DTT, DDE, high levels of selenium, and even raw sewage are all viewed as issues there. Levels of selenium and DDE considered to be adverse to nesting success have been shown to exist in fairly large percentages of the eggs of birds nesting in the area. And apparently the sediment is worse than the water.

Google "salton sea dde" and "salton sea selenium". Here's one link about a major die off of Eared Grebes in the early 1990s:
http://www.fws.gov/pacific/ecoservic...rebedieoff.htm

Here's a major take-away point:

Contaminants found in water or food items of grebes at levels of concern included arsenic, chromium, DDE, salt, selenium, and zinc. The mean selenium level for grebe livers found during the die-off was within the high risk adverse effect threshold. However, this threshold was only meant to be used during the egg-laying season. Grebes associated with the die-off had significantly higher selenium levels than birds collected at the same time of year from the Camp Pendleton reference area, the Salton Sea in 1989, and the asymptomatic grebes from the Salton Sea in 1992. The normal symptoms of selenosis were not documented in the grebes, but selenium is known to impair immune function which would make them more susceptible to some other disease.

[Kerry Perkins]

Paul, you have a link, I have a link... http://www.saltonsea.ca.gov/myths-realities.html I espcially reccomend myths #4 and #5. The current fight at the Salton Sea is over selling it's influx to San Diego for city water. A local reservoir has 40 times the level of selenium that the Salton Sea has. There are mass bird, fish, and wildlife die-offs everywhere - even in Yellowstone and Yosemite.

But that's ok, I like the solitude there. The less people the better for me, and one-dimensional reporting of conditions there keeps it quiet. I'll continue to go there and enjoy it. I just hope the apathy, greed, and misunderstanding don't kill it off.

[Willem Verboom]

Great detail and sharpness Kerry. I would remove the sparkles on the rhc in the water and then you're done.