Eared Grebe in Brunswick

I study birds, maybe for drawing or maybe just to get a little more information. For a bird artist, you have to be ready. Ideas pop-up in all kinds of places.

This week, it was an Eared Grebe that was hanging out in an off-limit spoil site. A group of us led by Gene Keferl survey this important bird area.

Important? What is a spoil site? It is an “island in the marsh” made of mud and sludge from dredging the river for boat traffic. All kinds of birds love the food trough the dredged mud provides.

Anyway, last week my trusty birding group went out to this Spoil site. We found a long list of birds.

This is a picture of a Long-billed Dowitcher top right, and a short-billed Dowitcher lower-left.

One was a distant look at an Eared Grebe. This is not a common bird in the east. It looks a lot like our Horned Grebe.

This Eared Grebe was not a life bird, or a state bird, or a county bird but it is still a good bird to study. So, when we moved on, I wasn’t ready. I wanted more time with this one bird.

My friend, Cilla and I went back in a few days. We found it!

Here are some pictures.