My original plan was to put up a blog post today about the trip to Copan from the Lago de Yojoa region of Honduras but as I started looking through the pictures I hadn’t used yet from the first part of the Honduras trip I realized that I had quite a few shots of Pied-billed Grebes that it would be a shame to let go to waste. So you get a bonus post featuring Pied-billed Grebes and Pied-billed Grebes only! They were common in the marshy areas around the lake and one in particular was quite willing to allow a rather close approach from the hotel grounds (odd for the normally elusive birds). There is something about Podilymbus podiceps that I have always found rather appealing. They are cute birds, but I think the fact that they always act so wary is what makes them interesting to me (and made seeing them so close such a treat). The grebes pictured below are either entirely in breeding plumage or almost all the way there: non-breeding plumaged Pied-billed Grebes lose the black on the bill that gives them their name and also the black chin and darker forehead.
They’ve got a pretty funny-looking face when viewed head-on
To me, they always “feel” like an ancient bird species from the early days of parting from the dinosaurs (yes, I am aware that technically, birds ARE dinosaurs, but you know what I mean).
Whether up here or down there these little guys are very cute.
Those photos are excellent, really. I especially like the third one with the reeds.