It always amazes me when I find some randomly uncommon species in an unusual location. I usually just start laughing because I always find it funny when this bird is just rebelling against the avian social norm and being like, "I'm a free spirit, I'll go wherever I want!" A great example is when I was birding at Laurel Hill Park a couple of years ago, and I was looking for Horned Larks in hopes of picking out a Lapland Longspur. I walked up to the river, and all of a sudden, this little bird comes floating along right in front of me. I'm thinking to myself, "wtf is this little...oh hey it's a Horned Grebe." Horned Grebe is a pretty rare species in Bergen County, especially in the dead of Winter. I started laughing because he was just chillin,' riding along the river next right in front of me, in fact, he barely even acknowledged that I was there. It's always great when birds are so cooperative for great photos. It was cool to finally get this guy on my county life list.
So basically, any bird can be anywhere. They don't need field guides to tell them where to be. Oh yeah, about that Barred Owl in my town...my mom and I tried again this morning. You can guess the out come :( Oh well, I'll break this no owl on my own curse eventually.
Good birding, leave no place unchecked! You never know what you'll find...
- Mike
Horned Grebe at Laurel Hill Park
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