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Red-necked and Eared Grebes, HBSP 3/15




Carolinabirders,

	Myself and a visiting birder from Wisconsin braved the weather and spent a 
day birding from McClellanville to HBSP.  We got a good list of birds from 
Francis Marion NF, Santee Coastal Reserve and HBSP.  Most of the 
interesting birds were at the jetty at HBSP including RT Loon, Bon Gull, 
SaltMarsh ST SP, N Gannet, Purple Sandpiper.  We also had four species of 
Grebes.

Red-necked Grebe: 3! One off the end of the jetty.  Swam next to a Horned 
Grebe for excellent comparison.  As we returned from the end of the jetty 
we saw two more! that swam within 10 yards of the jetty (on the south 
side).  They were with two more smaller grebes that we passed off as Horned 
Grebes.  The Red-necked had much larger bills than the Horned, and the bill 
was yellow at the base.  The neck on one bird was molting into red.  There 
was contrast between the neck and lower cheek as well as contrast between 
the lower cheek and the top of the head.  The eyes were dark unlike the red 
eyes of the Horned Grebe.

Eared Grebe: 1 One of the birds we thought to be a Horned was an Eared.  We 
saw the irregular shape of the head and the white "ear".  We had a Horned 
next to it as a comparison.