Hello tweets,

While conducting a "Big Sit" at the mouth of Issaquah Creek at Lake
Sammamish State Park yesterday, I had plenty of time to scope the 50
"Western" Grebes that were present. One of these birds seemed to present
the best case for a 'pure' CLARK'S GREBE.

Bill color was orange. There was a white rectangular area in front of each
eye separated by a dark forehead, crown, and a thin dusky line extending
from the red eye to the base of the bill. The eye had only a small and
faint amount of duskiness above and in back of it, so that from a distance,
the eye appeared to be surrounded by white. In actuality, it had true
whiteness only in front and below the eye (consistent with basic-plumaged
Clark's). The whiteness about the eye was more pronounced than on one
seemingly intermediate or Western x Clark's Grebe present. This latter bird
had only small white spots on either side of the forehead and a greenish
component to an otherwise yellow bill. On the Clark's, the blackish
upperparts were suffused with white on the flanks. It appeared overall more
pale than other grebes present, though I am wondering if young Westerns can
look as pale and thus render this trait useless if age cannot be determined
with confidence? Lastly, I did not think to compare the thinness of the
black line down the nape like that depicted in the Sibley guide.

Oh yes, my first big sit was abbreviated due to family obligations and was
hampered by a good deal of fog in the early morning hours (41 species were
detected including five species of gulls and a Green Heron). I had fun,
however, which is what counted!

Carl Haynie
Sammamish, WA
Carl.Haynie at pluggablelogic.com
http://www.pluggablelogic.com/aves/lssp