Again a quote from the Book of North American Birds, "If there are several
birds in the same area they maintain a respectful distance from one
another and show even less tolerance for would-be observers"- after taking numerous photographs of this bird, the Red-necked Grebe, I truly concur for although they never take nervous flight when they see me, they do swim a maddening distance away and even then just when I get focused in they almost always abruptly dive, not in fright but after fish I am sure. Now that I am more familiar with their ways I realize that they spend an inordinate amount of time underwater, emerging usually in some unexpected location far from where I am imagining them to surface. The photo above of the group of four that roam the upper river here is not a normal gathering for they are not overly gregarious at all.
