[mou] Breeding Clark's Grebe(s?), Lake Osakis, Douglas Co.

[Jesse Mathias Ellis]

Hi all-

Today (7/5/04) at about 11:30am, my brother Alex and I observed a pair of
Clark's Grebes from the west edge of Lake Osakis, in Douglas Co. (most of
the lake is in Todd Co., feeding two young.  We were just barely north of
the public boat launch in Douglas Co, and observed the birds first in
Douglas Co, within the small bay at the launch.  They slowly moved north,
constantly feeding the two young, and drifted out into Todd Co. waters (as
I understand my maps).

Things were a little interesting - one adult had the two young on its
back, and one was frequently diving and feeding.  The bird diving (Adult
1) was an easy Clark's Grebe, with an orangy bill, and with the eye
clearly separated from the black cap, the black cap not touching the eye
at all.  The neck I never got a good look at.  The other bird (Adult 2)
was more intermediate.  This bird also had an orangy bill, much the same
color as Adult 1, but the cap on this bird cap down and touched the eye,
though did not actually go down past it.  This was in strong contrast to
the many Western Grebe's present, whose caps went down past the eye and
encompassed it. The black on the neck of Adult 2 seemed quite narrow to
me, but I can't say I have a large amount of experience with this
particular field mark and its range of variation in both species.

Good luck!

Jesse Ellis
St. Paul, MN