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It seems a little late, but these Red-necked Grebes were building up their nest today in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.

No edit, no crop (blah, blah, blah).

 

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Sony DSLR A200 camera. Sigma 400mm APO prime lens, Sony 55-200mm lens, Sony 18-70mm lens, Kenko 1.5X teleconverter.

In the city I love with a passion that can't be described in words (apologies to other Canadians).

 

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Sony DSLR A200 camera. Sigma 400mm APO prime lens, Sony 55-200mm lens, Sony 18-70mm lens, Kenko 1.5X teleconverter.

Precious, Cairnstone!

...and the city ain't bad either!

 

Thanks sandylee. This picture came out a little underexposed. I had to lighten it up in Photoshop.

I also remembered (for once) to check the distance between me and the Grebes. I am a pretty good judge of distance and I thought it was between 45 and 50 feet. When I checked the camera it indicated 47 feet.

Uncropped.

 

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Sony DSLR A200 camera. Sigma 400mm APO prime lens, Sony 55-200mm lens, Sony 18-70mm lens, Kenko 1.5X teleconverter.

cairnstone:

 

Thanks sandylee. This picture came out a little underexposed. I had to lighten it up in Photoshop.

I also remembered (for once) to check the distance between me and the Grebes. I am a pretty good judge of distance and I thought it was between 45 and 50 feet. When I checked the camera it indicated 47 feet.

Uncropped.

 

Always better to be a bit under-exposed than the other way around!  As to lightening....that's what Photoshop is there for!  Great detail here. 

I wish I could judge distance ... "They" don't call me "Ms. No-depth-perception" for nothing!

Same pair. Earlier construction attempt!

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Life List: 73

Wow! That's great Rarepony. It shows how they have progressed. I also did not know that they would nest so late.

You learn something every day.

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Sony DSLR A200 camera. Sigma 400mm APO prime lens, Sony 55-200mm lens, Sony 18-70mm lens, Kenko 1.5X teleconverter.

In The Beginning.............

May 23rd.

This is when I first saw them building!

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Life List: 73

 

Unfortunately, a local birding web site is reporting that this Grebe nest was wiped out Saturday morning by a violent thunderstorm. The picture below was taken by my nephew in the wake of the storm on the north shore of Lake Ontario. The Grebes were right in it's path. 

A 26 second clip of this storm can be seen at this youtube link. You can see the Grebes wouldn't stand a chance in this situation:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GRww_ye_YIU

 

 

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Sony DSLR A200 camera. Sigma 400mm APO prime lens, Sony 55-200mm lens, Sony 18-70mm lens, Kenko 1.5X teleconverter.

Was at the park today and I hate to confirm it but it seems that the nest was badly damaged, No eggs to been seen even though they had (as I've been told) laid a pair. (picture forthcoming)

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Life List: 73

Aww, that's too bad!  Hopefully the adults survived to nest again...

Here are the pair on the nest apparently with eggs on July 6th!

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Life List: 73

This is what the nest looked like today, July 14th.

It was just water logged. The pair where around but they didn't get to close to the nest itself. They seemed confused and sad!

(but otherwise healthy)

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Life List: 73