The annual Orcas Island Marine Lecture Series is back by popular demand. On Tuesday, Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. Joe Gaydos of the SeaDoc Society will give a free public talk on Western Grebes. These iconic diving birds, once seen locally in the hundreds, are rapidly disappearing. With it, we are losing one of our most charismatic birds.

With folk names that include “dabchick”, “swan grebe” and “swan-necked grebe” the Western Grebe is the largest of the North American grebes and can weigh up to three pounds, almost half the weight of a bald eagle. These large, black and white birds have a long neck and a sharp pointed bill designed to spear or grab fish. In fact, its bill is the source of the bird’s Latin genus Aechmorphorus, meaning “spear-bearer.” Fish, specifically herring, make up over 80% of the Western Grebes’ diet.

In Washington, Western Grebes winter on marine waters and summer on freshwater lakes. They are strictly aquatic and never go on land. They even build floating nests. Well known for their spectacular courtship display, male and female birds will rear up and patter across the water’s surface in a breathtaking dance that makes a movie and dinner look like adolescent small talk. A century ago this bird’s elegant, snowy-white plumage was nearly its demise when its feathers were used to decorate women’s hats. Now the Western Grebe faces new challenges including derelict fishing gear, changes in prey abundance and loss of breeding habitat. Come learn more about these incredible birds and what is being done to save them.

This is the first lecture of the 2009/10 Marine Science Lecture Series, created to inspire the general public about the amazing fish and wildlife of our region. Talks are generally at 7 p.m. on the second Tuesday of the month at Camp Orkila’s Marine-Salmon center. Lectures are free. Please park in the upper parking lot at Camp Orkila. Shuttle service from the parking lot to the talk is available before and after the lecture.

The 2009/10 Marine Science Lecture Series is presented by program partners The SeaDoc Society www.seadocsociety.org and YMCA Camp Orkila www.seattleymca.org. It is made possible through generous sponsorship by Tom Averna (Deer Harbor Charters), and The Gould Family Foundation and co-sponsorship by Barbara Brown, Eclipse Charters, The Kingfish Inn, Shearwater Sea Kayak Tours, Jim and Kathy Youngren and West Sound Marina.