On January 9th, 2021, the first big surprise for birding showed up near me at Glendale Recharge Ponds. Darryl Montgomery discovered a Least Grebe right out in the middle of Basin 2. The news of the bird was mind blowing, and it was a species I never thought I'd see at Glendale. For Maricopa County, it was only a second county record. The first was at Sun Lakes in 2013, which I was fortunate to see. With this Least Grebe, it becomes the second record of it's species in 8 years to reach Maricopa County, and both birds have been in open water situations. These records have resulted in the Grebes being away from their usual haunts that include water bodies and ponds that have plenty of cover within debris and reeds. It seems like a Maricopa County Least Grebe would much more likely be found at Tres Rios or anywhere else that has reeds and thick cover. If it made it this far north, how about going a little bit further to Palm Lake at the Hassayampa River Preserve?! Anywho, this bird was awesome and put on a show for many happy observers during January 9th when it was present as a one day wonder.
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