York Region Eared Grebe

This morning, Laura and I were were relaxing at my parents place in Cambridge, making use of their hot tub and pool while they were away traveling, when I heard news of an Eared Grebe at Reesor Pond in southeastern York Region, found and reported by Stan Long early in the morning. Now that I am a resident of York Region, this was of interest to me. Eared Grebes are quite rare here, occurring less than annually but probably more than 1 every 10 years.

We budgeted time on our drive back home to check up on the Eared Grebe in the evening and after breezing through Toronto we arrived at the pond at around 6:30 in the evening. I was confident that the grebe would still be present as grebes often move/migrate at night, and within 10 seconds of arriving my suspicions were confirmed. There was the little long-necked, pointy-headed grebe diving actively for food.

Eared Grebe - Markham, ON (August 5, 2013)

This was the second Eared Grebe that Laura had seen in Ontario, and my first since last May. A great bird to see, and a bonus that it was still sporting its breeding plumage. Laura and I agreed that Eared Grebes are likely demonic, with their evil looking bright red eyes!

Eared Grebe - Markham, ON (August 5, 2013)

I did not have my camera with me so those above iPhone-scoped photos will have to do. Here is a slightly better photo of the Eared Grebe I found with Barb Charlton, Brett Fried, Georg Hentsch, and Ron Ridout last April at Long Point. Cool little birds!

Eared Grebe - Long Point (April 1, 2012)