Dateline: 15 April 2022
The BirdingPI.com team was stationed at Thompson Bay (Presque Isle State Park) long enough finally to get some better pictures of the mystery Grebe. Everything at long distance, so these aren’t the greatest shots, but enough to officially call it as a molting Horned Grebe! And high time, too – the tension was getting unbearable.
About the identification, bill shape (e.g., relatively short and rounded, instead of long and pointy) eliminates things like Western Grebe and Clark’s Grebe. Red eye color eliminates Red-necked Grebe. Zeroing in on Horned Grebe or Eared Grebe, the following features indicate the former: brown neck, blond tuft (perhaps what would be technically called the supercilium – side of head above eye), and brown lore (small feathers between eye and bill).
Eventually, also spotted a second “mystery Grebe:”
Another BirdingPI.com mystery solved!