An Eared Grebe was spotted along the shore of Lake Michigan, just below the bluff of Sheridan Park on Sunday 10/16. It was staying very close to the shoreline and sometimes hard to see from above. I decided to walk down the service road to the shoreline. I walked north from there about 100 yards, and it was swimming and diving between two of the jetties. I sat down on the rocky beach area and watched it for about 15 minutes. It was actively diving the entire time. After several dives, it popped up fairly close to me, stared me down and dove again. Every time it would go down and come up, then look at me and continue about its business. This bird appears to be a hatch year and in a plumage I have not seen before. I’m glad that it was reported and stuck around for the day. Enjoy!
Super photos!
Thank you Karen!
The first thing that caught my attention was the eye color – it seemed different from what I remembered for the species. A quick look at allaboutbirds.com did not turn up a juvenile with this yellowish eye color. Sibley shows the yellowish eye with a different first fall plumage. The dark bill and side of the neck with just a touch of lighter feathers in your photos resemble an adult male going into winter plumage but the eye might be the wrong color for an adult. Interesting grebe.
It is pretty much an exact match for the allaboutbirds.com immature picture in the middle section. I would say the eye is rather orange versus yellow. A quick Google search for “Eared Grebe juvenile” also shows several very closely matches to it. I don’t think adult because there is no color on the bird, it’s rather plain. The adult would show some colors from molting. Also this bird lacks any eye feathers or resemblance of any. It also lacks the white chin that it would molt into for adult winter plumage. Anyway, those are my thoughts on my it’s a hatch year. Thank you!