I was thrilled yesterday to see my first Horned Grebe in mostly breeding
plumage! And within the city limits of my hometown, in a pond completely
surrounded by parking lots and a road nonetheless. Its head plumage was
complete, all black and with the full beautiful golden tufts! What an
exotic-looking bird for Ohio. Its neck and sides were rufous but still
mottled with a little white, and the lower part of its breast was still
mostly white.
I spent quite awhile by the pond watching it and getting some photos, and
the bird wasn't that shy at all. Although I did observe something I'd
never seen before...it tucked its head completely under its wing as I
approached, and then soon began paddling away from me without ever raising
its head! I saw its feet moving under the water's surface, and the
supposedly sleeping grebe blindly traveled at least twenty feet away at a
pretty good pace, changing directions and all! I got some video of it
doing this...pretty funny.
I will check the pond again today, and I'll be very surprised if it's
there again. I'll post an update later today either way, but just in case
any local people are in the area before that, here's the directions: The
hospital, Fisher-Titus Medical Center, is on SR 250 on the south side of
Norwalk. The pond is located in front of the four-story new addition,
which is behind the older part of the hospital. You can access the pond
either by turning into the hospital entrance (on 250 right across from
Burger King) and following that road around the back towards the right to
the new addition, or by turning off Shady Lane Drive (the next road north
off 250).
The pond was created during the construction of the addition a few years
ago. I'd never seen any birds there when I happened to drive by before,
and never thought to look there purposely, but I will definitely start to
do that now. Though I realize this is quite a fluke, and maybe the Horned
Grebe will end up being the only bird other than Canadas and Mallards at
that pond for the rest of the year! The grebe was there just after noon
when I first saw it, and still there around 4pm when I came back with my
daughter after school to sit by the pond. She's five, and really got a
kick out of watching it through the binoculars, as it was constantly
turning its head back and forth with its fancy "hairstyle", and diving
repeatedly.
I'd been really wanting to see a Horned Grebe in breeding plumage ever
since I first saw a photo of one in the Audubon field guide, and it was by
complete chance that I decided to turn into the hospital parking lot
yesterday. I wasn't looking for birds at the time, but while driving on
an adjacent street, I happened to notice something I thought could've been
a hawk perched in a small field nearby. So on a whim, I decided to pull
into the parking lot to turn around and face the field. Turned out it was
not a hawk, but looking for one bird led to another...as I then barely
noticed out of the corner of my eye a very small bird floating in the pond
by the parking lot. There were no other birds there except two sleeping
Canada Geese in the grass, and I certainly didn't expect to see what I did
when I brought the binoculars to my eyes! I'd be happy to share photos or
video with anyone who's interested.
Happy Spring everyone!
Alicia Elmer
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