This immature Pied-billed Grebe was only one of many young birds I saw last weekend in the Green Island Wetlands. First it splashed all around and cleaned its feathers for several minutes. It seemed to tell me, look, I can clean myself all alone already.
Than it flapped its wings in order to dry them or just raised them up to let the sun do the rest. And last, it showed off and let me know that it can conduct an orchestra... Well, I know, this is probably asking too much for a little bird but it obviously made this pose that looks like it would conduct a bunch of musicians... :-) Don't you think?
On the photography side, the light at 4:30PM was still very intense but had already a warm touch. It was necessary to dial in an exposure compensation of minus one stop in order not to blow out the highlights on the light parts of the feathers.
This is the best I'm able to get from the wetlands at the moment. The carpet of algae is definitely not an eye pleaser and shooting from slightly above, the only way you can do it there if you use the car as a blind, is never a good angle for a great image. However, after another week of traveling I was happy to be back in the wetlands and I hope you enjoy the photos of the juvenile Pied-billed Grebe and the little story they tell. More to come...