Twice on Saturday and again Sunday morning I watched a Western Grebe off the southwestern shore of Lake Independence. The location is almost directly across the lake from Baker Park. Western Grebes are uncommon this far east in Minnesota, not often reported in Hennepin County. This bird was offshore about 200 yards Saturday morning. It was fishing very near the shore Saturday evening, at times no more than 20 feet from shore. Sunday morning it was in the southwestern bay again, perhaps 200 feet from shore. Saturday night I watched the bird catch a sizable perch, big enough to require some effort and time to swallow. Here is a sequence, along with a shot after the sun had set. The large moon Saturday night was nicely reflected in the lake. Standing on the a bridge at that site I waited for the grebe to swim near or into that reflection. That would have been a cool photo. The bird settled down for the night, however, about 30 feet from my dream.
