Nothing gets a birder more excited than a really rare bird … but sometimes, timing can be problematic. This is a busy time of year … and I’ve been splitting my time between preparing for Christmas (always busier when you have a young family) and preparing for my Eagle-Eye Tours trip to Trinidad & Tobago beginning later this week. I was kind of hoping to sneak away without any local birding distractions.

But when fate deals her hand, there’s not much we can do about it. Just two weeks ago, reports came to light of Newfoundland’s first ever Black Vulture – an unexpected vagrant, but well photographed in Burgeo on the island’s SW coast. Fortunately (?), it was a little too far to really tempt me at a busy time like this. BUT THEN, on Friday December 1, veteran birder Chris Brown spotted yet another provincial first – and this one was just 1.5 hours away. He had found an EARED GREBE at Peter’s River – a real hot area for rare birds in the past few years. While a common bird of the Canadian prairies and parts of central and western USA, it is a rare wanderer to eastern North America and until now had never been recorded in Newfoundland & Labrador.

But what a busy weekend we had planned!! After sitting on my hands all night, I decided to forego the chase and spend some quality time with my family at a Christmas event on Saturday morning — all the more important since I’d soon be leaving for two weeks. But by lunchtime, reports confirmed the grebe was being seen at the very same spot — and I decided to make the pilgrimage and see it for myself.

Peter’s River and nearby St. Vincent’s beach have been host to many rare birds over the past few years – including a variety of terns, gulls, shorebirds and seabirds. Here, my new Kowa scope stands pointed at the most recent jewel – Newfoundland’s first Eared Grebe!

After losing 30 minutes of precious time being stuck behind a Christmas Parade in Riverhead-St. Mary’s (can’t say that did much for my holiday spirit!), I finally arrived at Peter’s River a little frustrated and well behind schedule. Luckily, it only took 5 minutes for me to spot the diminutive Eared Grebe, swimming a short distance off the beach exactly where it had been seen earlier in the morning. I first enjoyed some great scope looks, then walked a few hundred metres down the cobblestone beach, rocks grinding and scrunching under my feet. Although the grebe was a little wary, some patience and stealth paid off and I eventually took in some very close looks and photo opportunities. What an amazing bird! It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas 😉

This beautiful Eared Grebe marks the first record for Newfoundland and Labrador. It is a rare wanderer to eastern North America, and should be headed for wintering grounds in the southwestern United States or Mexico instead of the cold North Atlantic.

Check out those eyes!

Pretty soon I’ll be thousands of miles south of Newfoundland, soaking in the tropical heat and exotic birds of Trinidad & Tobago. How quickly the tides turn in the life of a birder.