Pied-Billed Grebes at Washington Park

I spend a lot of time in Washington Park, living in Albany, this green space is my backyard. Sometimes I’m lounging, walking, running, but at all these times I’m usually bird watching. The park has some usual suspects such as robin redbreasts, grackles, sparrows, red winged black birds, red tailed hawks, mallards,

and Canadian geese. The other day I saw a local peregrine falcon fly by so low and close to me, just for a fleeting moment. Seemingly new residents in the lake this year are a pair of pied-billed grebes.

When I saw this tiny bird I couldn’t make out what it was, and it kept swimming away from me! I went back to the lake each day for about a week either walking or running and kept my eye out for the bird. They are much smaller than mallards and have longer necks, and a striped beak. When I finally got a good look at its striped beak and was able to make a conclusion. These are fishing birds, and I enjoyed watching one gulp down a whopper!

I am excited to see how this new addition to the Washington Park environment endures.