2/11/15, Horned Grebe Birdseye, Stratford; cf Eared Gebe, 1/15/15 Demuth

Grebe comparison: a Horned Grebe at Birdseye, Stratford, on 2/11/15 and an Eared Grebe at Demuth Park in Palm Springs on 1/15/15: the head/neck profiles contrast greatly, with the Eared Grebe displaying a peaked head on a relatively long, slender neck and small, thin, pointed bill; the Horned Grebe a relatively shot neck and a short, relatively thicker bill.  Head plumage difference obvious but not as definitive as overall shape at a distance.

Horned Grebe, Birdseye, Stratford, 2/11/15

Eared Grebe, Demuth Park, Palm Springs, 1/15/15.  The common grebe in S. California, with thousands of Eared Grebes on the Salton Sea--a saline sea like Mono Lake near Yosemite where thousands of Eared Grebes concentrate.