Folks, Kathy Mimm-Dunning and I found a second Red-necked Grebe at Cherry Creek, associating with the hundreds of Western Grebes out in the middle of the lake. This bird looks like an adult, basic plumage bird.
We also studied the Red-necked Grebe that remains at the duck pond, just across the road from the model airplane field. This is the bird I found 2 days ago and called a 'juvenile'. With due respect to Carl and Bob, I still believe it MAY be a juvenile and here's why. The bird seems to show the remnants of the facial pattern of a juvenile bird, with a dark auricular area that contains a whitish center, and white curling up around that dark patch. Yes the neck is red and head is dark, but is that inconsistent with a juvi bird? Admittedly, the amount of white in the throat seems to favor an adult. In any case, you can get closer to this bird than any RNGR I have ever seen. Photo ops should be excellent this afternoon. If you go to see this bird, you will notice a patch of feathered flesh hanging from the right side of it's mouth. When I first saw this anomaly, I thought it was a foreign object, i.e. a fishing lure. I have many photos of this feature that seem to show the facial skin has been torn by something and is dangling. A bare spot under it's chin indicates where the skin has been peeled off. It is unsightly and definitely an annoyance to the bird, as he repeatedly tries to remove it. However, the bird can fly, swim, dive, open it's mouth and feed. I have witnessed all of this. Hopefully his injury will heal. You can see some photos at the link below. Comments are welcomed! Glenn Walbek Castle Rock, CO http://www.pbase.com/gwalbek/2010_birds -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Colorado Birds" group. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to [email protected]. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/cobirds?hl=en.
