There are certain species of birds that are just better looking than others.  Now I don't want any of the political correctness police chasing me, but there is no denial of the fact that Black Necked Grebes are a very beautiful bird and have been one of my many wildlife photograph targets for some time..  

During Summer this small bird of 25 to 35 centimeters in length is fairly easy to identify with its black head and golden yellow ear tufts, where its full spendour can be appreciated in breeding plumage.  In winter it is much more ordinary in appearance and is much harder to identify as it is very simular in apperance to many other grebes and with a totally different appearance.  During the winter months it is sometimes seen on reservoirs, the coast, and other waterways, but the best time to see any of the grebe species is when they are in their breeding plumage each spring.

Black Necked Grebes have a wide geographic range across Europe, and are also to be found in some countries across western Asia, and western parts of North America.  The European breeding population is thought to be between 25,000 and 35,000 pairs breed each summer, but they are not a common bird in Britian, and is probably less than 50 breeding pairs in Britain each year.

They can be photographed at many locations including a well known site near to Manchester which is about three hours drive from my home.  But these images were taken as part of a short break where I visited some floating hides in the Danube Delta region of Bulgaria.  The story behind my experience is found here:   Floating Hides