I had just finished up a recording session along Hoag Avenue this
morning (100 Pine Siskins - no crossbills) when I got Dave's call
about the Eared Grebe at Aurora. I headed over to the boathouse, met
up with Susan Danskin, and spent a good hour scanning back and forth
among scattered groups of grebes. A light breeze had picked up,
ruffling the water and bouncing the distant dots around a bit. We
eventually confirmed ten of the dots as Horned Grebes (the same number
reported earlier by Dave) and focused on the eleventh, most distant of
all. After awhile the breeze subsided and the water smoothed out. We
had been scanning from the parking lot, thinking that a bit of
elevation would help with the shimmer. Susan suggested that we get
closer to the bird by walking out on the dock. So, instead of 7,000
ft, we narrowed the distance to 6,900! But that was all it took. The
shape we had been looking at was now clearly an Eared Grebe: darker
overall than Horned Grebe, higher, fluffier "bustle", much less white
on the neck and face, thin bill, and the head had a definite "crown"
above the eye.
Bob McGuire
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