Feathers and Scales: The Grebes of Lake Nockamixon

On Wednesday (4/16/14), my mom and I headed over to lake Nockamixon to try to get pictures of the Horned Grebes. When we first got there, we immediately saw a Horned Grebe. After taking many pictures, we stopped at the next parking lot and saw five Common Loons in breeding plumage. After that, we stopped at our last parking lot. On the drive in to the lot, we saw a Broad-winged Hawk perched in a tree right over the road. After that we went all the way in and I immediately saw another Horned Grebe. After taking many pictures we started walking back to the shore from the car. However I saw another grebe-looking duck right near the shore. So I headed back down only to see that it was an Eared Grebe in winter plumage. I called my mom back down and we both got incredibly good looks at this incredibly rare bird.