Hello All, Yesterday at the Spit, I believe I saw an Eared Grebe. It was a medium sized grebe with. Whispy yellow plumes on the side of it's head. It had a black neck and dark back. It did not seem like a Horned Grebe to me because a Horned Grebe would have a rufous neck and a scaly back and a slightly larger and differently shaped head (less rounded and a bit more like a Red-Necked Grebe) that would have a different colour pattern (more of a black cap than the mostly black head I saw.. The bird was not a Red-necked Grebe because a Red-neck Grebe would be bigger and have a longer red neck and black cap, a differently shaped head and no whispy plumes.
When I listed it on ebird, they appropriately wondered if I had seen a Horned Grebe in transitional plumage when the two would be harder to discern. A fair question as I am familiar with these birds, but am very, very far from being expert on their transitional plumage. With a this in mind, I decided to put out an alert for folks to keep their eyes peeled at the Spit over the next few days. The bird was in cell 3 on the side closest to cell 2 and was closer to the spine road side. I had a good look from Spine Road, but no pictures. Keep me posted if you learn anything. Thanks, Rick Eckley The Leslie Spit is in Tommy Thompson Park at the foot of Leslie Street in the east end of Toronto _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists (OFO) - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to birdalert@ontbirds.ca For information about ONTBIRDS including how to unsubscribe visit http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdssetup Posting guidelines can be found at http://www.ofo.ca/site/page/view/information.ontbirdsguide Visit the OFO Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/OntarioFieldOrnithologists
