As several people have kindly pointed out to me, HORNED GREBE is a couple of orders of magnitude more likely than EARED GREBE.
(I knew EARED was less likely, but not by how much!) So before anyone makes a special effort to go see, please keep in mind that I am by no means an expert birder of any kind, and emphatically not with respect to grebes. It's quite likely that I have got the identification wrong, and it's actually HORNED GREBE. -- Graydon On Sat, Apr 13, 2013 at 08:37:45PM -0400, Graydon Saunders scripsit: > WESTERN GREBE > EARED GREBE > RED-NECKED GREBE > PIED-BILLED GREBE > > As of about 17h00 on Saturday, 13 April 2013, the western grebe is still > present, found on the inside, marina side toward the western end of the > outer breakwater. (The windy end with the flagpole.) It briefly swam > with bill gaping and bright red bill lining showing, which I hope is a > sign of spring and not distress. > > Also present toward the western end of the outer breakwater were a group > of six eared grebes, one of which is still mostly in basic plumage. > (Young of the year from last year?) > > Large numbers of red-necked grebes are still present in the east bay. A > much smaller number (about a dozen) were present, rafted and sleeping, > in the western channel past the western tip of the outer breakwater. > > In the marina, I observed a single pied-billed grebe actively diving. > > Lots of ducks present; common and red-breasted mergansers, bufflehead, > scaup (mostly greater but one probable pair of lesser), redheads, > gadwall, mallards, and considerable numbers of long-tailed ducks rafting > and calling. Also a group of four coots, one mute swan, and an early > double-crested cormorant. > > Colonel Sam Smith Park is at the southern end of Kipling Avenue in > Toronto, with the entrance at Kipling and Lakeshore. > > -- Graydon > > _______________________________________________ > ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial > birding organization. > Send bird reports to [email protected] > For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/ > _______________________________________________ ONTBIRDS is presented by the Ontario Field Ornithologists - the provincial birding organization. Send bird reports to [email protected] For information about ONTBIRDS visit http://www.ofo.ca/
