Hello all,
I wanted to post a response to these questions, as I haven't seen much
discussion on the list about the two birds photographed.
The bird photographed by Gail Wieberdink is, to my eye, clearly a
winter-plumage Horned Grebe. The relevant marks are most visible in
this photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/gailw/4083957590/. Note
especially the short bill (for a grebe), the relatively short neck, and
the clear line dividing the dark cap from the light cheek and front of
the neck. Western/Clark's Grebes would have a much longer bill, a
blockier head, and a proportionately longer neck. These species (Horned
and Western/Clark's) can look very similar, except for the shape of the
head and neck, and the shape and color of the bill. Here's a photo of a
Western Grebe in a similar posture to the photo above:
http://www.badbirder.com/images/new/may5n6/wegr.jpg. The pattern and
shape of the head and neck on Gail's bird also rule out Red-necked and
Eared Grebes.
The bird photographed by Erik Collins isn't conclusively identifiable
from the photos. To my eye, it looks more like a Western/Clark's Grebe
than anything else - note the very long neck and the bulky look of the
head in this photo:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikcollins/4081166725/. But
unfortunately, since the bird didn't stick around, we'll never know.
Lastly, telling Western from Clark's grebes in winter is an
underappreciated ID problem. In Washington state, where I used to live,
and where both species are regular in winter (though Clark's is uncommon
to rare), it causes a lot of controversy. The most extreme Clark's are
obvious (white on the face extending above the eye, and bright orange
bill), as are the most extreme Westerns (dusky face and dingy
yellowish-green bill), but there are a decent number of intermediate
birds that can't be solidly identified in winter.
Thanks to both Gail and Erik for posting their photos!
Good birding,
Matt Dufort
Minneapolis
Gail Wieberdink wrote:
I wonder if this might be the same bird seen by Erik yesterday on Turtle Lake. We saw this bird on Lake Gervais in Little Canada around 1:15 this afternoon. I'm afraid my photo attempts are not much better than Erik's, but I've posted what I got on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gailw/sets/72157622755132040/
Take a look.
Gail
I
----- "Erik Collins" <[email protected]> wrote:
| This afternoon I found an interesting, very distant bird on Turtle Lake in Ramsey County. Its long white neck and dark back made me think it was perhaps a Western Grebe, but the bird was so far away they were the only details I could see. I wish there had been a nearby duck or gull to get a better estimate of its size.
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| I attempted to take some pictures by holding a digital camera up to my scope. Here are two crops of the same photo. They're pretty bad.
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikcollins/4081166725/
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| http://www.flickr.com/photos/erikcollins/4081921884/
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| I hesitated posting with such little information and poor pictures, especially because it will probably turn out to be something not that exciting, but I thought it might be interesting to see what others thought.
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| Erik Collins
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| Shoreview
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