horvath@granite.cr.bull.com (John Horvath) (09/15/90)
In article <689@sun13.scri.fsu.edu> sandee@sun16.scri.fsu.edu (Daan Sandee) writes: >As for Pied-billed Grebe : I can't remember ever having seen one fly, either. >Though people who have seriously studied the bird no doubt have. >There is circumstantial evidence of its flying capacity : it's a partially >migratory bird, and even if there are no banding records, its seasonal >... I heard an interesting story about flying grebes from a friend who manages a sanctuary on the northern coast of MA. He said he has gotten a few grebes (all pied bills?) from people who have found them stranded in their driveways after cold weather during migration time. The driveways in question were very large and after a little bit of wet, cold weather, iced over and looked like black water. He surmised that the grebes were flying by (during migration) and unfamiliar with the area. When they saw what might have looked like small deep ponds, they landed. He mentioned that they need water to do a take off from, so even though they weren't injured, they were stuck. (He transported them to a real pond.)