So not long after the American Coots arrived I started seeing something else around. They were tiny birds, even smaller than the coots, and I had a tough time getting a good look at them because they had a penchant for diving under the water and swimming a pretty fair distance before popping up again. Tiny, shy, AND elusive, a good combination for survival, a bad one for me figuring out what they were. At first I thought they might be wood ducks, but eventually, after much effort and a trick using my binoculars and camera in concert (plus my bird guides at home), I discoverd they were... Pied-Billed Grebes! I'd NEVER seen them around here before, despite Illinois being in the path of their migration routes, and now I am seeing them all over. Here is a progression of pictures as I tried to work out what they were, as well as the two videos I took.