OSAKIS, Minn. — When it comes to birds, Minnesota has the singing part well covered. Mourning doves, cardinals and blue jays are among the songbirds providing the state’s outdoor soundtrack.
But this is a story about dance.
“Do you guys need life jackets over here?” shouts teacher Jeff Pokorney to Alexandria High School students emerging from their bus. Minutes later, they climb aboard several pontoon boats.
“I've only seen videos of them, I've never seen them in person before,” one of Jeff’s students says excitedly.
Make no mistake, grebes are singers too. But it's not Sinatra that's lured the pontoons onto Lake Osakis.
It's Baryshnikov.
“There you go!” one of the boat’s passengers shouts.
In unison, a male and female grebe rise from the surface of the water, propelled, upright, by their rapidly moving feet.
“Oh look at 'em!” someone shouts.
Their every movement synchronized, the birds travel about 30 feet before diving back into the water.
“It’s a privilege” to see them, Allen Wittrock says. The president of the Alexandria chapter of the group, “Let’s Go Fishing,” pilots one of his organization's pontoons.
Each spring, the boats are pressed into service as viewing platforms for the courtship dance of the grebes on Lake Osakis.
“I wish everyone could experience what we’re experiencing here today,” Allen says.
Grebes are, by nature, romantics.
Males and females swim around a bit upon first meeting.
They reach second base with a weed dance, sharing a plant plucked from the bottom of the lake. The dance ends dramatically when one of the birds abruptly tosses the weed away.
But everyone on the boat is here for the home run.
“There he goes. Oh, beautiful!” someone shouts as another grebe pair rises from the water to begin their dance.
The gravity-defying ballet is accomplished by grebe feet resembling a trio of bean pods slapping the water up to 20 times a second.
Western grebes are Minnesota's only bird species that migrate west to east, trading California and Oregon each spring for their summer homes in places like Osakis.
The Douglas County community both adores the birds and adorns its downtown with etchings and drawings of them.
“They come here and nest in these reeds every year,” Allen Wittrock says.
The grebes will raise their young on Lake Osakis, before making the trip back west — only to repeat their Minnesota courtships next spring.
“I think a ballet is a good way describing it,” Allen says. “It took me 60 years to experience it and, once you experience it, you don’t want to miss it.”
Young lovers might take a cue from the grebes.
You can't go wrong with a song, but for true romance, dance.
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