Eared Grebe at North Point in Milwaukee 4/11/25

Jeremy4 Comments

An Eared Grebe was found Thursday evening by North Point. I was busy that evening and thought I had missed out. Thankfully, it stuck around Friday and was able to stop on my way home from work. I got there about 4:30pm and had perfect late afternoon sunlight! Surprisingly, it hung out with several Bonaparte’s Gulls feeding in the water, but only about 5-10′ offshore. I waited for it to go under and got down low to the water before it popped back up. I sat there for a while and watched it feed rather closely. At one point it was so close, I just decided to take a nice head portrait. There was a lot of activity, since it was nice out, so when people would walk past above the rocks, it would swim out and then comeback. This one was rather close to breeding plumage, with some nice colors. I enjoy when I get to see one. Photos below are from Friday 4/11. Enjoy!

Eared Grebe at Sheridan Park Bluff 10/16/22

Jeremy4 Comments

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!