Photographing birds on the ocean is a fun but challenging pursuit. Especially on days with rough seas when the birds riding on the water at a distance are obscured by rolling waves.
That’s why I was thrilled to finally capture a good photo or two of this pair of Horned Grebes at a close range from my vantage point of shooting on the rock jetty at Huntington Beach State Park.
With those piercing red eyes and that lovely black and white plumage, Horned Grebes are truly striking looking birds when your lucky enough to catch a good look at one floating on the Atlantic.

These handsome birds are a relatively common sight swimming in the ocean just offshore of the Carolinas during the wintertime months.
That being said, they are also occasionally found a little further inland on bays and estuaries, as well as on our coastal fresh water lakes and brackish impoundments.

During the winter, their diet mostly consists of fish as well as crustaceans, mollusks and insects.
But, did you know that Horned Grebe’s regularly eats some of its own feathers?
So much so that its stomach usually contains a matted plug of them. Like the strainer covering the hole in your kitchen sink, this plug may function as a filter screen or may hold fish bones in the stomach a little longer until they can be digested. The parents even feed feathers to their chicks to get the plug started early.
Crazy huh?

Photos by @sally_siko of @birdwatching_nc on my beloved beast, the mighty mirrorless @canonusa#R5