When I got home last night, I had processed the photos and mostly ruled out Eared Grebe because this bird had a white neck, a white area at the lores, and no hint of the white notch at the back of the head behind the eye. Apparently, the juveniles can show a lot of variation at this time of year. The peaked head and the chiseled bill pointed towards Eared, but thinking that Horned was much more likely than the western U.S.-located Eared, I figured it had to be a Horned. Wrong! And even more surprising! If accepted, this would be only the third record for Northampton County and one of only a handful of records for the Lehigh Valley area, plus there is only one other August record of Eared Grebe in Pennsylvania. That one was from south-central PA in August of 2023. Regardless of which species, it was my 143rd species for the Regency site. These are the photos from yesterday.
The grebe was on the far side of the pond today, so the photos weren't near as good.
Other birds seen there included 2 Wood Ducks, 5 Green Herons, and a Great Blue Heron.
At the Newburg Road pond, I saw the continuing Double-crested Cormorant.
Also present were 5 Killdeer, a Lesser Yellowlegs, one Spotted and one Solitary Sandpiper, 11 Least Sandpipers, and a Great Blue Heron.
The Hollo Road retention pond held 2 Lesser Yellowlegs, a Solitary Sandpiper, 5 Least Sandpipers, 2 Common Ravens, and an Osprey.
The Tatamy Exit retention pond produced 5 Lesser Yellowlegs and a Semipalmated Sandpiper among 14 Least Sandpipers.
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