Western grebes running along the water surface as part of a courtship ceremony on Shuswap Lake.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Mary E Boychuk
May 17, 2023 - 6:00 AM
Salmon Arm Bay on Lake Shuswap is the site for most of the province’s breeding Western grebes, and every April the birds show up there to mate.
Kamloops photographer Mary E Boychuk went to the bay on Sunday May 14 with her long lens hoping to see the grebes do a courtship dance on the water, and she wasn’t disappointed.
“It was so hot, probably close to 28 degrees out and there wasn’t a lot of wildlife activity on the water at the time,” she said. “I only saw five pairs of western grebes, so was delighted when one of the pairs did their dance and I was able to capture the moment.”
The courtship dance is referred to as a "rushing ceremony", according to All About Birds, which starts when the pair makes a call that sounds like cree creet. They then lower into the water and make a grating sound with chests out and throats extended. The pair dip heads and bills into the water, shake their heads back and forth, then rise up.
“Then comes the spectacular rushing where both birds rise up in the water onto their feet, side by side, and simultaneously “rush” or run long distances across the surface, wings held up and back, necks curved, pattering with their powerful feet in what looks like a perfect bird ballet,” the article said.
The display ends with the birds diving.
Western grebes doing a courtship ceremony on Shuswap Lake.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh
“It was incredible to see but I was too far away to hear anything, or maybe concentrating too much on photographing the minute they got up on the water,” Boychuk said.
Shuswap resident Kaitlyn Hamelin took a video of a pair of western grebes doing the courtship dance on May 12 that captures the sounds of wings and water.
“My partner and I decided to go for a wharf walk while we waited, we didn't expect to see such an amazing sight,” she said. “Some people, like my mother, have lived here most of their lives and have never seen this beautiful ritual. I guess I am incredibly lucky not only to have seen this but catch it on camera too."
The earliest recorded report of western grebes in Salmon Arm Bay was in 1950, with nesting first recorded in 1962, according to an article by the Shuswap Naturalist Club.
The population of the colony on the bay has increased and stabilized over time while colonies in other parts of the province have decreased or even disappeared. The bay became a protected area in 1988 in large part because the birds were nesting there.
The birds court from April to late June, preening, giving each other gifts like fish and doing the dance on the water.
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Natural factors are hard on the grebe nests, and increased development and the resulting human traffic affects their habitats. There are now usually fewer than 100 pairs nesting in BC, almost all in Salmon Arm Bay, according to the Shuswap Naturalist Club.
Every April Western grebes arrive at Salmon Arm Bay on Shuswap Lake.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Isobel Lamarche
Western grebes give their partners gifts as part of their courting routine.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Doug Giles
Salmon Arm Bay on Shuswap Lake is home to a colony of Western grebes.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Valerie Walsh
A pair of Western grebes on Shuswap Lake.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED/ Mary E Boychuk
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