Western Grebes: Audubon Amateur Photography Award Winner 2022

Amateur Award Winner: Peter Shen

A Western Grebe’s red eyes stare into the camera, its body facing forward on nearly still water. Two chicks ride on its back, with their heads cocked around the adult grebe’s neck to either side. Each holds either end of a silver fish in its beak.


Photo: Peter Shen/Audubon Photography Awards
Species: Western Grebe
Location: Calero Reservoir, San Jose, California
Camera: Sony A1 with a Sony FE 600mm f/4 lens with a Sony 1.4x Teleconverter; 1/1000 second at f/7.1; ISO 500

Story Behind the Shot: I was hiking on a narrow, rocky trail when I saw a Western Grebe with two chicks on her back. I unpacked my gear and knelt at the shore’s edge. A male arrived with a fish and passed it to the mom, who turned to face me and made eye contact. I quickly laid flat on the gravel, bird droppings all around, but I didn’t care. My heart pounded. One chick got hold of the fish, but the second bit onto the other end. They tugged, back and forth, until the second chick won. The rivalry brought back happy memories of my siblings, our mom in the middle.

Bird Lore: Western Grebes hatch out of eggs in nests that float on the water’s surface. Within minutes of emerging, the baby grebes scramble up onto the back of their attending parent; the adult grebe soon swims away carrying them, becoming in effect a new living, floating nest. For up to four weeks the male and female adults take turns at parental duties, one toting the young while the other hunts for food to bring back for them.

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