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Eared Grebe Peaks Birders Interest at Sanford Sewerage District
by Kirk Rogers

The Sanford Sewerage Treatment Facility is a well known location to birders in Maine. It is viewed as a desirable and worthwhile stop when in the area or as a destination when taking the field seeking birds. At any given time many species of shorebirds, waterfowl and perching birds can be found around the open ponds and surrounding woodlands. My recent visit was prompted by a posting on the Maine Bird List indicating an Eared Grebe, seen this time of season in past years, was back enjoying the Maine weather… This grebe has generated a great deal of interest in the last few years and many people have visited the facility to observe this beautiful, and in the case of New England, unusual bird. One could comment he has his own ‘fan club’ locally.

Although noted as one of the most abundant of all the grebes, the summer range of the Eared Grebe is primarily the western United States where it breeds in the shallow wetlands. The species has a ‘rare’ range in the eastern United States and no location sources I’m familiar with include the State of Maine. This makes our visitor unique and clearly a curiosity. If you’ve never viewed an Eared Grebe in breeding plumage, and probably most in Maine have not, look it up on the Internet or in a birding field guide. It is a striking and beautiful bird much the same size as the more common Pied-billed Grebe, with distinctive red eyes and golden ear tufts. Its appearance was once described to me as ‘demonic’… Needless to say, I was interested in getting the Sanford Waste Treatment Facility Eared Grebe in front of my lens.

When my ‘day job’ allows in May, I spent as much time as possible seeking warblers and other bird species during the spring migration. And no, there was no typo – the spring migration actually occurs in May in Maine. I travel with my cameras to many parts of the country and have photographed anything from insects with macro equipment to deep space objects through telescopes, however, May in Maine is the place to be … So I’m on my way to Sanford to seek out the Eared Grebe.

Having visited the facility previously, I knew what to expect, but you never know what may be around when you get there. After signing in and letting the staff know I was in the area and why, I geared up and headed into the pond area. At first glance the activity level appeared disappointing… However, as I quietly walked the pristine grounds I began to take in the sights and sounds of an environment that catered to many species of birds and other forms of nature. Included with the ducks in the area were Ruddy Ducks in breeding plumage, also known as ‘Bluebills’ – if you’ve ever viewed one this time of year, you’d know why. The Mallards and Canada goose flock didn’t interest me particularly, although there were quite a few goslings swimming about. I looked and looked for the grebe and after a time where I walked all the ponds thought it wasn’t around and returned to my vehicle. As I was getting ready to pack it in, a local birder drove in and we discussed the grebe. He indicated he was certain it was there although I remained unconvinced. I’m no novice to this pursuit and I’d investigated everything on the water carefully. We walked back to the ponds, found the Ruddy Ducks and the first thing I observed was the Eared Grebe as I approached the water. I learned quickly enough that this bird spends more time under the water than on it and can remain underwater for long periods if you’re searching for it.

These birds aren’t like those in a park used to being hand fed. If they observe the distinctive shape of a human they will swim away from it. Even though they remained at a considerable distance as I approached, they moved off. Walking from side to side around the pond wasn’t going to help either. I returned with my tripod and set up low on the bank leading towards the pond and sat down. I photographed the grebe and his cohorts over the next few hours hoping they would make a closer approach to my location. They did close in to a degree, but never achieved the shooting distance I would have preferred. While I sat on the bank remaining still and quiet, I observed a monster in the water… Whatever it was it had to be eight feet long. I relocated to a more desirable position and finally figured out what I was observing – two of the largest snapping turtles I’d ever viewed were wrestling and rolling in the water about a third of the way into the pond. I’ve photographed large gators, many turtles, snakes and all kinds of subjects in the swamps and marshes of South Carolina and Georgia – however, Sanford is home to the largest snapping turtles I have ever observed, bar none. The gallery of shots I posted does not display the type of photography I normally produce, but at that distance I was pleased none the less. I’d digitally captured Sanford’s famous Eared Grebe…

I have posted two galleries from my time in Sanford. It took some time – I had a lot of exposures but much repetition. I culled out the best to create two different views – one being just the grebe. These were mostly long distance shots so not my best, but not bad considering – you can really see what the Eared Grebe looks like. The links are:
www.kiroastro.com/birds/grebe_eared/ and www.kiroastro.com/birds/sanford_may18/.

I’d like to extend a thank-you to André Brousseau and staff at the Sanford Waste Treatment Facility for making these opportunities possible to so many.

Kirk M. Rogers
Astronomical & Earthbound Images
'A Shot in the Dark'
www.kiroastro.com

 

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