RBA: Western Grebe in Mechanicsburg, PA

After spending the morning running after White-winged Crossbills and Rough-legged Hawks around Lancaster with my dad, I arrived home to see an email saying that a Western Grebe had been found earlier and was still being seen near Mechanicsburg, PA. This is a pretty good record for PA and its been a couple years since I saw Western Grebes in Montana so I took off right away. 

western-and-red-necked-grebes

When I got there, the Western Grebe was swimming a couple hundred feet down the creek from the access, so I got pretty good looks but it wasn’t close enough for great pictures. It was hanging out with a Red-necked Grebe which provided an interesting comparison.

western-grebe

The grebes are hanging out in the Conoduguinet Creek and you can see the exact location in the map below.  The owner of the house there is allowing birders to park in her driveway as long as they leave room for her to get in and out. Don’t park along the road.

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