Date: Sat, 21 Jun 2003 16:20:13 -0400 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: Lori Kay Brown Subject: red-necked grebe in Loch Raven Reservoir MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO8859_1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Dear Osprey -- I am newly returned to this list, so I apologize if this is a repeat sighting, but I was very surprised to see a red-necked grebe in MD in June. Saturday, June 21, 2003 off Dulaney Valley Rd. Loch Raven Reservoir, north of Baltimore, MD All birds seen from a canoe. barn swallows baltimore oriole black vultures turkey vultures 1 accipiter sp. (coopers? maybe.) many canada geese (adult & immature) 1 adult male red necked grebe possibly a second, in a wood duck box. The grebe was sighted swimming and diving out in the middle of the reservoir. I was in a canoe w/ my binoculars, and got as close as a couple hundred feet. We observed the bird for about 10 minutes. The bird was in breeding plumage, w/ a rusty neck, white on the front of the neck. The white on the front of the neck extended up under the bird's chin and onto the lower part of his face. The top of his head and his back was the same dark brown/gray mottled color. Bill was yellow and black. He had those sort of knobby looking ear-like crests on the back corners of his head. And he had the unmistakable oval body shape, longish thin neck, and sharply pointed bill held perpendicular to the water. Light was very good, very little glare. I have seen many of this bird before, in winter, but never in the summer, in breeding plumage in this area. At a wood duck box earlier the same afternoon, my companion saw another bird that he says looked very similar to the grebe I saw afterwards. This other bird was sticking its head out of a wood duck box. I didn't see this second bird myself, so I can't verify its species, but if what he thinks he saw is correct, there might be a breeding pair of red-necked grebes in the Loch Raven Reservoir. Can anyone else confirm this sighting? I saw on the VON list that a red-necked grebe has been seen in Fairfax Co., VA recently too. Thanks. ============= Lori K. Brown Baltimore, MD 410-523-2773 lori.k.brown@verizon.net ============= ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================