Western grebe on the water

Bear River’s marshes are one of the best places in the country to watch western grebes, famous for a synchronized courtship display where paired birds rear up and run side by side across the water’s surface. This one was simply cruising calm water, but the sharp black cap and blood-red eye needed no dramatic behavior to stand out.

Why it matters

Western grebes were once heavily hunted for their dense, waterproof breast feathers, used in the millinery trade much like egrets — another species whose recovery is tied to early 20th-century conservation reforms.

Getting the shot

Flat, glassy water did most of the work, mirroring the bird’s crisp black-and-white pattern almost perfectly. Exposed carefully to hold detail in both the black cap and the bright red eye, which can easily lose all detail if slightly overexposed.