Here's something to peruse:

http://www.eopugetsound.org/articles/western-and-clarks-grebes-aechmophorus-occidentalis-and-clarkia

Might shed a little light on the situation.

Joe Meche
Bellingham (on the "big, big bay")



-----Original Message-----
From: jeff gibson <gibsondesign at msn.com>
To: tweeters <tweeters at u.washington.edu>
Sent: Mon, Oct 21, 2013 8:53 pm
Subject: [Tweeters] Everett Western Grebes



Saw four Western Grebes on the Snohomish River, just upstream from the start of Ebey Slough today. Those are pretty cool birds! I've seen them here before over the years, which is nice. It's a bird I've grown up with.

Grebes bring back fond memories for me. "Back in the day" (as the saying goes) on Bellingham Bay in the 70's, there used to be huge rafts of these birds, numbering several thousand, snooping about the bay in winter. I was a college student, and (mostly) nature bum up there at the time. Back when life was cheap(er).

My favorite part of the memory, was the sound. Ever hear a few thousand Western Grebes? Their sound carries a long long way, and Bellingham has a big big bay! I can still hear it somewhere between my ears - which I guess is a good thing, since the phenomenon of those big grebe rafts is now history I've heard. Too bad for us local listeners. But just a few Western Grebes calling goes a long way.

Does anybody out there in tweeterland know if the Salish Sea decline of this bird as a wintering species is due to overall population decline, or have they just dispersed elswhere?

Jeff Gibson
just kinda wondering
Everett Wa




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