I discovered a Western Grebe winter hangout last year, and fortunately they returned this year. I spent three days photographing these beautiful birds.  They are very tolerant of my being there, so I am pretty sure I photographed them without disturbing them. Just watching them sleep is enchanting. They sleep with their eyes open:

I also loved watching them preen. Goofy and beautiful at the same time: While preening, they will pull out their own feathers and eat them. It is thought that they do this to protect their stomachs from sharp fish bones: They are also really fun to watch while feeding.  They always to go the barges anchored in the area to feed. Most often they would surface with a fish, then dive under to consume it.  This one time, however, his eyes were bigger than his stomach. He spent 5 minutes trying to consume this fish, but in the end had to drop it: The rains have now closed in, and I will probably not be going back to this site for a while. I feel honored that I had those three wonderful days with them.