Still a little chilly from today's birding adventure and I've been home for @6 hours. Fairly early this morning an Eared Grebe (not see in RI for 4 years) was reported in Weekapaug on the beach. I was already out, but headed down right away. I sat on the beach watching a roiling ocean for 1.5 hours in the cold wind. I did not see the bird.
I did learn something about seawatching. It is hard -- particularly when it is so rough, and I'm not talking about braving the cold. I have an awesome scope that gave me looks at birds that were extraordinary. But scopes really compress depth of field and I struggled (mostly unsuccessfully) with re-locating the birds with my camera. It is immeasurably easier when there is a stationary landmark to help -- the ocean was on the move & there were not even any good boats out today. I need to work on this skill.
After leaving I got word it had been relocated, so I returned and found the bird fairly quickly in the scope. Got a few good looks and then lost it again. It is a small bird diving bird and between that and the choppiness just a tough bird to find. Also I had left my gloves in the car.
Happy I saw the bird, but not my favorite way to see a bird - kind of just checking the box. As my friend Sue says, very unsatisfying. I had seen an Eared Grebe earlier this year in Connecticut, so it isn't a life bird -- that would have been really disappointing. Life Birds - 317, RI - 310, RI 2022 - 289.
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