Eared Grebe at White Rock

[EastLawther]

Someone was looking for an eared grebe and I did not want to bury it at the tail end of a long thread...

These eared grebes are/were at White Rock Lake, along the shore, next to the Arboretum. [Let's see how this picture thing works...]

http://farm1.static.flickr.com/242/450705029_32190188ba.jpg?v=0

the link is
http://www.flickr.com/photos/mercerdrive/450705029/

There were about three today (Easter Sunday morning, April8). I also saw them over a week ago (friday, march30,2007). They hang-out with the coots and, on first glance, are easily mistaken as one. Look carefully.

They are right next to the shore, so I can get close enough to take a picture. Unfortunately, they fidget, so the photos tend to be blurry. It was getting dark when I tried to photograph them last friday, and those photos were hopelessly blurred.

I will say they seemed to soldier-on through this bad weather. Doesn't bother them at all.

I saw horned grebes along this stretch about a month ago. The horned grebes are farther from shore (40yards or more). They stay under the water longer; these eared grebes go under and come right up, and are in shallower water. And of course, there are the pied-billed grebes (they are so cute:))

These were my first sightings. According to the Cornell web site (All About Birds), eared grebes are "the most abundant grebe in the world". Not around here. The maps seem to indicate that they migrate through here only.

Enjoy.

[betsy]

Hi, EastLawther,

Thanks for the info -- I went by there late yesterday afternoon and got a good look at them myself. One was in full breeding plumage and one was nearly there but still had a white breast. The third was well out into the water -- I didn't see it until I stopped at Dreyfuss Point. Those two little guys were only a few feet from shore and weren't at all bothered by the presence of three onlookers standing a few feet on the landward side of the shore staring at them.

btw, I took the liberty of editing your post to embed the photo in it, as I think you wanted to do. You have to use that little yellow icon that looks like a postcard with a mountain and a stamp (or maybe a sun) on it to embed a photo in a post so it shows up like it does now. Instructions are provided in one of the posts in the Admin's Corner forum, accessible from the front forum page.

Man, the lake was certainly swarming with swallows late yesterday afternoon!