Hey everybody-

I went after the Red Necked Grebe at Wilde Lake yesterday afternoon, and was
able to spot the bird without even getting out of the car.  How convenient!
 I got some far off shots, but then the bird dove, and came back up about
fifty feet away from the dam, offering some fantastic views through the
specs, and some better, though still fairly blurry shots, from the camera. 
I've posted some photos on the site, along with some shots from Oregon Ridge
Park last week of some more common birds.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/nicobirdphotos/
(My favorite is the first photo on the page, but if you scroll down to the
fourth photo, you can see the bird's feet, really cool-looking)

My advice to anyone who goes after this bird in the future, especially for
photographers, is to give the bird some time to move to you.  As long as it
stays in that lake, you should have no trouble seeing it, but if you want to
try for a shot or two or just a better view, just watch which direction it
is heading, then, when it dives, move farther up in that direction.  When I
was watching the Grebe with my Dad, it covered a distance of at least 70 or
80 yards in less than a minute as it headed towards the dam, then dove,
allowing me time to get to the dam before it resurfaced.

Best of luck to anyone who tries for this guy in the future!

Good birding,

Nico Sarbanes
Baltimore