On March 10, 2026, I found a Common loon in the Cap Sante Marina. I had been seeing one in the marina for a week or two but on this morning I had a brief opportunity to photograph the bird. It was cold, raining and the wind was gusting but I managed to stick it out long enough to get some good photos. The bird is in the process of morphing from its winter plumage to its breeding plumage. The loon was alternately searching for fish and grooming, and after watching it for a few very cold minutes, it rose from the water and stretched… just what I was waiting for!

After that successful encounter I kept a close eye on the marina for the next couple of days. On the afternoon of March 12, after waking from a brief nap, I decided to take a quick drive around the marina in hopes of again finding the loon. The weather was much the same as my prior visit… cold, raining and windy and the loon was there but much farther away than my previous encounter. I drove around the marina searching for other waterfowl and found a grebe joining a small group of waterfowl consisting of a male Bufflehead, a couple of Hooded mergansers and a couple of Goldeneyes.

At one point I was able to get unusually close to the Hooded mergansers and got some good photos. The following photos are of the same male merganser. In the first photo the bird’s crest is flattened and in the second photo its crest is raised.

This is a photo of the female Hooded merganser with her crest partially raised.

Back to the grebe I had seen. The only other grebe I’ve ever seen in the marina was a Pied-billed grebe, but this was obviously a different species. I managed to get fairly close to the bird for some good photos. After studying my photos and doing a little research I’ve come to the conclusion this was a Horned grebe, but its appearance in winter plumage is very close to a that of an Eared grebe.