Clear Lake is famous for its trophy-sized bass, but the lake also has many other outstanding features. One of my favorite things about Clear Lake is its abundance of bird life.
There are blue herons, osprey, cormorants, pelicans, ducks, an occasional bald eagle and my all-time favorite, the western grebe.
For years the grebe was one of the most abundant and interesting creatures on the lake. However, last year the grebes just about disappeared from the lake. In fact a team of researchers didn”t find a single grebe nest or young bird last spring.
The reason given for the disappearance of the grebes was the massive threadfin shad die-off. Shad are the primary food for the grebes as well as the other water birds on the lake, and when the shad died the birds left for other lakes.
The good news is that in the past two weeks the grebes are beginning to return to the lake. In fact, while fishing on the lake Monday I saw several grebes gathering tules to build nests. In one area alone, I counted more than a 100 of the birds plus a few pelicans.
With a few exceptions the shad are still in very low numbers, but it”s possible the grebes have found another food source. They will eat any species of fish and even insects and crayfish. Grebes are the ultimate fishermen. I have seen them chase down small silverside minnows and pick them off one by one as if they were eating popcorn.
Both the male and female grebes build the nest and raise the young. They use dead tule stalks to make a floating mat and then build the nest on the mat.
It takes 23 days for the eggs to hatch. A brood can consist of from one to four young and they can swim soon after being hatched. They often ride on their parents” backs, which allows the chicks to rest and to escape danger.
Grebes are most at home in the water. In fact, with the exception of seeing grebes on their nests, I have never seen a grebe on land.
Actually, their legs are positioned so far back to aid in swimming that they would probably fall over if they attempted to walk.
Without question the grebe is the world”s fastest diver. I have been in bass boats roaring across the lake at speeds in excess of 60 mph and come across a grebe swimming in the path of the boat. At the last second, just when you think the boat is going to hit the grebe, it dives and escapes unscathed. Rarely does a boat ever hit a grebe.
The western grebe has a close cousin called the Clark”s grebe. Both grebes are common at Clear Lake. Whereas the western grebe has a dull yellow or olive-colored bill and red eyes surrounded by dark coloration, the Clark”s grebe has white around the eye and a bill that is yellow to orange-yellow.
Grebes are migratory and fly south during the winter. How they fly such long distances is a mystery. They are not considered strong flyers and, in fact, very few people have ever actually seen one fly except to skitter across the water. But scientists have tracked their flight paths with radio-collared birds.
Food is also the criteria for how many grebes visit a lake. Two years ago when the threadfin shad population was at its peak at Clear Lake there were an estimated 100,000 grebes here. At that time it was considered one of the largest populations of grebes anywhere in the world. Of course, once the shad disappeared most of the grebes left for other lakes.
It”s their courtship dance in the spring that draws most of the attention. The male approaches the female and does a series of dips with his head. She responds with like dips and then they ran across the surface of the water with theirnecks arched in perfect unison. Their final act is to dive exactly at the same time.
Like all the other shore birds on Clear Lake, grebes are an important part of the ecosystem. If indeed they are nesting again on Clear Lake it”s another plus for the local residents who enjoy watching the county”s abundant bird life. It”s just another reason why Clear Lake is such a special place.
