Advice needed

I recently saw a medium-sized waterfowl.

It was black.

Do you think it might have been a grebe? Is there an authoritative book
about grebes I should consult to learn more?

 

LOL good question ;-)

Konter without doubt.

Grebes of Our World (Handbooks of the Birds of the World)

Synopsis
Andre Konter was born in Luxembourg. As an ornithologist with a
passion for grebes and their conservation, he has travelled the five
continents with the aim of observing and photographing all of the
grebe species still in existence. This book tells the story of how his
keen interest in these birds developed upon seeing a pair of Great
Crested Grebes in a lake near his home in the early 1990s and includes
accounts of his observations. These include the time he discovered a
colony of over 100 Hooded Grebe nests in the remote Argentine
Patagonia, the experience of seeing one of the few remaining
Madagascar Grebes (a threatened species which is endemic to
Madagascar), the time he sighted the New Zealand Grebe (which can only
be found on North Island, New Zealand), and his observations of the
last remaining, critically threatened Junin Flightless Grebes. Also
included are black and white illustrations of all of the species by
Michael Braum, as well as 85 photos of 19 of the 22 species that still
exist, 76 which were taken by the author and are being published here
for the first time. The main objective of this book is to contribute
to the conservation of grebes by donating the majority of the proceeds
to renowned specialist John Fjeldsa, Director of the Natural History
Museum of Copenhagen, for grebe research and conservation projects.


BEWARE OF the notorious copy by Malcolm Ogilvie, sacked from the RSPB
and Usenet stalker.

It's all on Google http://tinyurl.com/339858

--


Avoid the rush at the last judgement. Be converted now instead!




Disclaimer

Pete has taken all reasonable care to ensure that pages published by him
were accurate on the date of publication or last modification.
Other pages which may be linked or which Pete may have published are in
a personal capacity. Pete takes no responsibility for the consequences
of error or for any loss or damage suffered by users of any of the information
published on any of these pages, and such information does not form any
basis of a contract with readers or users of it.

It is in the nature of Usenet & Web sites, that much of the information is
experimental or constantly changing, that information published may
be for test purposes only, may be out of date, or may be the personal
opinion of the author.
Readers should verify information gained from the Web/Usenet with the appropriate
authorities before relying on it.

Should you no longer wish to read this material or content, please use your
newsreaders kill filter.

 

You would be better off going to an optician.

 

If it was greasy as well as black, it might have been a greebo.

--
platypus

"Merely corroborative detail, intended to
give artistic verisimilitude to an otherwise
bald and unconvincing narrative.”

 

I a grebe.

 

Dunno. Might have been a grobe.

www.bigbookofgrebes.com

 

Perhaps it was a crow having a bath.

 

No and probably yes.

If it was *really* black[1] and had a white lump on its nose it would
have been a coot. Not quite so black and a red bit on its bill then
probably moorhen[2]. All this and other information will shortly[3]
be appearing at www.waterways-science.org.uk

Chris D
[1] 'The one true water bird?'
[2] or a black swan
[3] shortly = any time in the next few months when I get around to it