Upon our 12:30PM arrival at the main beach area of Headlands Beach State Park, in Lake County, we were surprised to easily find the previously reported Franklin's Gull, on the edge of a large group of Ring-billed Gulls, located at the east end of the beach, in the midst of numerous beach worshippers. While looking past the Franklin's Gull out into Lake Erie, my wife Denise made the remarkable find. Here was the gorgeous Western Grebe, the bright black and white plumage showing beautifully. The out of season celebrity visitor was to far out for a good photo with the bright sun reflecting on the water. The Western Grebe was unfortunately located in the cruising lane of all the waverunners and boats gassing it by parallel with the shoreline. My thoughts were we need to get another birder here soon to see and verify this beauty before it either gets hit or is forced to depart. After making several phone calls and posting to OHIO-BIRDS from the beach, we were ecstatic and relieved when Jerry Talkington arrived, and shortly after, Ray Hannakin. Ray, guru of Headlands, informed us this was a new bird for the Headlands list, bringing the total to well over 300 species. This could possibly be the most unusual location I have ever watched a rare bird find from, surrounded by lots and lots of beach lovers; oblivious, or maybe even curious, to what we were excitedly looking at. The Franklin's Gull and Western Grebe are two more examples of bird species this year, that have broken tradition by not following their normal visit dates in The Ohio Records Committee Annotated Checklist. 2013 is turning into an anything can show up, at anytime, type of year. No summer birding blues this season!

Bob Lane / Mahoning County                                        
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