[Image: Western Grebe (Aechmophorus occidentalis). Credit: Professor Zembal]
“Countless wild creatures thrive in the habitat that grows along the channels and basins OCWD maintains to convey water to the people we serve. One of those creatures is a bird, the Western Grebe that eats fish and attempts to nest in remote OCWD basin nooks. These birds are black and white with a 2-foot wingspan and a croaky trumpeting call that echoes across the Santiago Basins in spring; for me that call is the sound of the wild in the OC. (Our lowland version of the cry of the Loon on a Sierra Lake.) Mated pairs perform a “Rushing Ceremony” that you can watch on U-Tube, with arched necks they run on the water side-by-side, then dive, and mate. They attempt to nest in partly submerged tree limbs along an inlet that passes water from the basin to Santiago Creek during high water conditions. Those conditions generally don’t last long enough and nests fail. OCWD staffs go to great lengths to effectively manage wildlife in permit compliance but occasionally just to accommodate such a beautiful, charismatic species. Staffs have designed and planted little nesting islands that have been used successfully but it’s a work in progress. A new design will soon be deployed; cross your fingers.”
-Professor Zembal 10-11-19.
Environmental Studies Blog 