Hi,
I had an errand to run - had to buy some stuff from a hardware store. There is
one near my house, probably less than 15 minutes away, but it offers no birding
possibilities. On the other hand (you know where I am going with this story),
another store is more than 30 minutes away but is close to a lot of birding
hotspots. So which store do you think I chose to go?
First stop was Dyke Marsh and the Belle Haven picnic area. The target bird was
the Eared Grebe. I started walking near the shoreline hoping to see it right
away. But instead, as soon as I met Scott Priebe, we spotted a HORNED GREBE.
This was an interesting bird because this morning this bird decided to get some
'fast food' and harass a little boy learning how to fish. The Horned Grebe hung
out very close to this family and soon I learnt why it was favoring this spot.
It would steal the bait the boy was using! A quick meal indeed!
Moving on, I got to the boat launch area at Belle Haven marina, and here I got
to see the EARED GREBE. I saw it swimming along with a CANVASBACK. Scott had
earlier told me that he thought the Canvasback was hurt. It did seem to me too
that it was hurt and unable to fly.
The EARED GREBE was pretty close and I got some photographs (photograph details
at the end of this mail). At one point, the EARED GREBE and the HORNED GREBE
started hanging out together. To an untrained eye, this pair looked like a male
female pair - one slightly different than the other in coloration.
The next interesting event that happened was the arrival of a hunting boat.
This hunting boat had a couple of dogs in it. Now, I don't know if the Eared
Grebe recognizes hunting boats or recognizes dogs - but it clearly seemed to me
that it was pretty spooked by the arrival of this boat. Immediately it flew
away. Was it my brain which was forming associations which did not exist or is
it really true that the bird recognizes hunting parties? I would like to hear
your opinion and anecdotes.
As I ended birding this spot, I saw a father along with his 4 cute kids feeding
MALLARDs and RING-BILLED GULLs. What was surprising to me was that apart from
the snacks they threw into the water for the birds, they tossed smashed apples
into the river! I asked him if the kids in a state of over-excitement had
thrown their breakfast into the water. He assured me that his kids were just
feeding the gulls. He said 'those gulls eat everything!". I had never thought
that they would eat apples!
Other birds seen in this spot are here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16445390
After finishing my shopping I headed to Burke Lake (Fairfax County) to try and
spot the COMMON GOLDENEYE, Fred had seen a female a few days ago and Kurt had
just seen a male a day ago. As soon as I reached the shore at the boat
launching area, I was able to spot it in the far distance.The duck was diving a
lot and that feature was a good way to identify it among other ducks there. I
noticed that it would spread its tail and then dive, which reminded me of a
Ruddy Duck.
The bird I saw had a brown head, white neck, white belly and no white spot on
face which made me think it was a female. I have to read up more to completely
confirm the gender.
Other birds seen in this lake are here:
http://ebird.org/ebird/view/checklist?subID=S16454685
Photos-photos:
If you wish to see the photos of the Eared Grebe and Horned Grebe *together*,
please check my photos in the VA-bird group on Flickr:
http://www.flickr.com/groups/va-bird/
Claire Kluskens has a nice montage of both the grebes together in the VA-bird
pool. Dave Boltz (who is in this listserv) has another Eared-Horned comparison
photo from Maryland waters: http://www.flickr.com/photos/daveboltz/12063334226/
cheers,
_________
-Deapesh
PS: If you are on flickr and have VA bird photos, please do add them to the VA
group so that a wider audience can enjoy your photos.
http://www.flickr.com/groups/va-bird/
