" Horned Grebes far outnumber Eared Grebes on Puget Sound in winter and some
can look a bit like Eared Grebes until an Eared Grebe shows up. Watch for the
Eareds slighter build, "giant" head, grayish face, and tiny, "upturned" beak.
Eareds tend toward fresh water moreso than Horneds.
--Scott Richardson

After I re-read your post, Scott, I went back to my book (All the Birds by the
American Bird Conservancy) to see if I'd got them confused. The Horned seemed
a bit smaller to me, and its bill seemed a bit smaller. Maybe they weren't
Eareds after all? The coloring was just like the book: white front, grayish
neck & head with a bit of white on the sides. There wasn't enough
white under the chin and around the side to seem like a red-necked. And the
head did look big for the body. Does this help any or just make things more
confoooosed??

--Rebecca at Northgate in Seattle