The Grebes at Lake Hodges have been very active rushing this year. I have 47 keeper rushing sequences from January that vary from 18 to 131 photos in a sequence at 5, 10 or 20 fps. The 8 posted here and the 2 from the prior post are single frames from those sequences. I also stitch them together to make short video clips. During February I have been shooting only 4K video, which is going to take some considerable time to edit. I find that shooting video is much harder than stills and I am not sure how that is going to turn out. Maybe not well. I may post some of those later once I figure out how to post a video on this site.
Although the grebes are present in large numbers and are very active in rushing and other mating activities there is no nesting that I have been able to find. The water level in the lake is low and the reeds and bushes that line the shore of Bernardo Bay and the east end of the lake where they nest are out of the water. Grebes attach floating nests to those plants and there is little or nothing in the water for them to use. This looks very bad for the production of chicks. The water level is controlled by the water authority in SD county and they have lowered the lake level for the forseeable future because of structural issues in the dam at the west end of the lake. If I see any sign of nesting I will post something on this site, but it looks like the prospect for lots of chicks riding on the parents is bleak.
I hope you enjoy seeing these images, and your comments and critique is welcome.
Dave
P.S. I may post some of these images in the 600/4 thread in the Sony forum.
Feb 27, 2020 at 09:20 PM
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