Some cool things on the lake that are too far away to take pictures of.

As I've already mentioned, my camera doesn't have a very powerful zoom. So any bird that's more than 100 yards from me comes out looking all blurry in photos:


There are at least 20 Western Grebes hanging out on the lake these days, but they just won't come close enough for me to get a good shot.

But they're doing the coolest things!

Their mating displays are basically long games of "Stop repeating me! Stop repeating me!"

... accompanied by some head puffing and running-while-flapping.

There are also still at least two eared grebe pairs hanging out on the lake. Could they be nesting? Last year I wrote down that I saw17 of them on April 4, and none after that. Here's a picture from someone with a cool camera:

Breeding Eared Grebe
Originally uploaded by Fort Photo.

And while I'm posting photos I didn't take, here's one of the Double Crest that gives the double crested cormorant its name.

Double-crested Cormorant, Morro Bay Heron Rookery, April 8, 2007
Originally uploaded by mikebaird.