It’s been a while since I’ve had time to spend with the Beast. So when I saw that a pair of Eared Grebes was being reported on a pond near me, I asked Rich if he wanted to take a ride to see a bird on our way to the grocery store.

Instead of pointing out that the pond was nowhere near the store, my wonderful hubby just asked, “what bird?”

“It’s an Eared Grebe! Their normal range is out west and this is the first one I’ve seen reported in Orange County in a number of years!”

“But don’t all grebes have ears?” :)

So Rich got a nice walk around the Lake Apopka Northwest Recreation Center as we spotted and then stalked this small pair of grebes that were hanging out in the middle of the pond. It was a gray, rainy afternoon. There wasn’t much light, but I could shoot in any direction I chose! The grebes were diving a lot, but they obliged me by coming up fairly often so I could take their pictures.

The Eared Grebes reminded me of Horned Grebes, who are more common rarities in Florida. Cornell has a good description of the differences between Eared and Horned Grebes in winter plumage. To me, the biggest difference is on the head. The Horned Grebe’s dark head has a straight line transition to his white cheek, and the Eared Grebe’s transition is rounded.

I liked this shot. He was looking right down the barrel of my lens! Look at those bright red eyes. He’s probably wondering how he ended up in Florida when he intended to migrate from the Great Basin down to Mexico.

The grebes weren’t the only fun birds on the pond. I spotted a pair of Common Mergansers, who are pretty good finds for Orange County. They preened and preened for my camera, but refused to give me a wing-flap.

Their cousins the Hooded Mergansers were out in good numbers. I love watching the hoodies play in the water. They were pretty far away, and my attention kept wandering back to the grebes. But I did like this shot of a female Hoodie:

This Ruddy Duck was a fun find. He was relatively close to shore and posed nicely for the camera. In a few months, his bill will turn bright blue for the breeding season.

It started to drizzle, and we headed home. But not before taking one last shot of the diving Eared Grebes. I hope they enjoy their vacation and then find their way home in the spring.