Western Grebes locations and numbers?

Am in the Dakotas and the attached is one of the Western Grebe 'rushing' photos

I have come up with. The sight of these guys dancing across the water pleasure

at its best, especially with the camera on hand.

Does anyone know how long they do this? Does it go on after nesting?

Then, I am in the Dakotas and am trying to find a ballpark figure on the number

of Western Grebes that come into North Dakota, where they migrate from and

whether the numbers are increasing or decreasing.<div></div>

I can't answer your question, but you might want to wait until the chicks hatch, and get some shots of them riding on their parents' backs. Very cute, and fairly easy to photograph, if you have a boat.

--scot

I don't have an access problem for them. A ton of lakes nearby where I can set up blinds, small tents, wade or boat for the photos. Am looking for info on the numbers for North Dakota and am not having much luck with the National Refuge people nor the Game and Fish guys. They all know a lot about ducks and geese and other stuff people shoot but apparently not much about non-game birds.

As for the chicks on the parents backs, one image attached.<div></div>

They breed throughout the western states and winter mostly in California. There was an oil spill two winters ago in the LA area which killed over 10,000, and research is ongoing to figure out where they came from.

Also, the bottom picture is not a Western Grebe. It's a Clark's Grebe.