This afternoon about 5:30 p.m., I walked the Yorkies, and we went down to the pond. As we got there I saw a small bird on the water on the other side. We all stopped to look and what jumped out at me was the yellowish ( in fan shape) feathers on the side of the head, and my first thought was Eared Grebe. The bird sat still looking at us and us at it. I did not have my binocs, and I just kept looking at the head, ( yes it looks fan shaped). The bird was very dark overall. I do not remember seeing color on the body. Maybe 5 seconds passed and it flew off. It did have white patches on the wings. Looking in the Sibley book, the white patches on the upper wing match what I saw. (Secondaries, the trailing edge of the wing)
When the bird took off the yellowish feathers on the side of the head appeared to lay in a line across the side of the head. I could not find online any photos of Eared Grebes in flight,( in breeding plumage). We have seen tadpoles in our pond already this year so it may have had a meal. It just took me by surprise, but the yellowish feathers on the side of the head really was the thing that jumped out at me. I have seen breeding plumage Horned Grebes on Cayuga Lake. This encounter happened pretty fast. I have had Wood Ducks on the pond and they take off as soon as they hear us coming, doing their high pitched whistle. Gladys -- Cayugabirds-L List Info: http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsWELCOME http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsRULES http://www.NortheastBirding.com/CayugabirdsSubscribeConfigurationLeave.htm ARCHIVES: 1) http://www.mail-archive.com/cayugabirds-l@cornell.edu/maillist.html 2) http://www.surfbirds.com/birdingmail/Group/Cayugabirds 3) http://birdingonthe.net/mailinglists/CAYU.html Please submit your observations to eBird: http://ebird.org/content/ebird/ --
