English and Scientific names:	Red-necked Grebe, (Podiceps grisegena)
Number of individuals:	1, probably 1st basic
Locality: LOUISIANA:	Orleans Parish
Specific Locality:	New Orleans, Lake Pontchartrain, just offshore Haynes Blvd. levee, between Little Woods and Lincoln Beach, 100-200 yards offshore.
Date(s) when observed:	March 6, 2004
Time(s) of day when observed:	0945-1030 h.
Reporting observer and address:	David P. Muth New Orleans, Louisiana
Other observers accompanying reporter who also identified the bird(s):	Phillip Wallace
Light conditions:	Bird was swimming in lake to my north; sun was behind me over my right shoulder as I faced the bird; bird swam west. I was up on top of the levee, so the bird was below my line of sight. There had been a morning fog, and though it had lifted, a little haze still clung over the lake, making the light somewhat dingy--i.e., patterns were quite discernible but colors were harder to ascertain.
Optical equipment:	Zeiss Dialyt 10x40 Binoculars Bushnell Spacemaster 25x Spotting Scope
Distance to bird(s):	My gross estimate is that the bird when first seen was about 175 yards offshore, putting it about 200 yards from me, standing up on the levee; I estmate that it eventually swam to within 100-150 yards of me.
Duration of observation:	It swam toward me for about a minute, then turned west, and began actively diving. I glimpsed it several more times for mere seconds as it surfaced between dives. Later we saw it up for awhile though it was quite distant (see below).
Habitat:	Shallow estuarine "lake". The bottom of the south shore of Lake Pontchartrain tends to be a mix of hard sandy bottom and soft clay bottom, with submerged aquatic vegetation in shallow areas and clam beds.
Behavior of bird:	The bird was swimming at first, then swimming and diving, presumably feeding, and moving generally westward. There were hundreds of Lesser Scaup, 50-60 Horned Grebes, 100+ Common Loons, Double-crested Cormorants, the usual gulls and terns, and lesser numbers of Brown Pelicans, two Eared Grebes, one Pied-billed Grebe, 20 Common Goldeneyes, 10-15 Buffleheads, 5+ Red-breasted Mergansers, 5 Gadwall, one American Wigeon, 5 Surf Scoters, and a flock of 50-60 Bonaparte's Gulls feeding in the vicinity. Many of the ducks were too far out to identify beyond "probable scaup." This seemed to be a migratory movement in general--most of the diving birds had not been there in these numbers in the weeks prior, and almost all were gone within a week. Most of the birds above were seen within 0.5 to 1.0 miles of the grebe. Birds were very active, swimming and feeding, or making short flights. Occasionally a boat would put hundreds in the air, and positions would shift. I spent most of the day and part of the next working a 2-3 mile stretch of the lakefront with others, searching for the grebe, and these are my best end-of-the-day numbers.
Description:	A very large grebe seen swimming with head held high and neck straight for the most part (in an alert posture). It sat high in the water, giving a typical grebe profile--a vaguely rugby-ball-shaped bird with a stubby tail, long neck, small head, and long straight bill. It swam within 15 yards of a pair of Common Goldeneye for a clinching size comparison. Any lingering doubt that I had at that point that I might be mis-reading a Horned Grebe was dispelled. It was at least as big and long-on-the-water as the two ducks, and sat much higher in the water, with its neck extended goose-like. Because it rode so high in the water, it actually looked distinctly bigger than the goldeneyes. --a large grebe, slightly larger than Common Goldeneye; --large almost rugby-ball-shaped body with stubby tail. It sat high in water; --neck long and proportionally thicker than nearby Horned Grebes; --bill, long, as long as head, thick and dagger shaped, proportionally longer than HOGR bills; --head dark above, paler below. Cap, nape and back of neck muddy brown, face pattern indistinct but cheeks paler than cap and back of neck. Chin and throat dirty white, much paler than cap and back of neck, contrasting above and below. --body bicolored, pale below along flanks above the water line, back dark muddy brown, continuing pattern of head and neck, though flanks a little cleaner white than throat. I did not get a sharp picture of the face pattern or bill color. The bill was possibly paler at the base of the lower mandible, though in the light the feature did not leap out at me. The face did not appear to show the classic white crescent of basic plumaged adult. It was more likely a first basic bird; the facial pattern was not as distinct as in some field guides, which show a more dramatic Black Scoter-like facial disc. This was more subtle, at least in the light I had; what I saw is consistent with some photos I've looked at subsequently.
Voice:	not heard
Similar species:	All other North American grebes eliminated by size except Western/Clark's, which are eliminated by the lack of a sharp black and white plumage pattern, as well as by facial pattern, and, more subtly, by neck thickness and overall proportions. No loon, duck, or goose shares the classic grebe shape, especially the shape of a grebe swimming upright with neck extended.
Photographs or tape recordings obtained?	Alas, no. I had foolishly bounded up the levee for a quick scan, forgetting to grab my belt pouch with video camera. After watching it for a while through binos and scope, I made the fateful decision to run back down to the car to get the video camera. When I got back up on the levee, I could not relocate it. In the meantime, I had called Phillip Wallace by cell phone since he was nearby. He arrived quickly and we began frantically scanning. Numbers of actively feeding Horned Grebes complicated the search. We did pick it up swimming on the surface about 300 yards or so to our west and pretty far offshore. We got brief scope views, but then it disppeared behind a tree line going west. The rest of the day was spent fruitlessly searching for the bird.
Previous experience with this species:	A few on both coasts in past years; most recently seen in Atlantic off New Hampshire and Massachussetts in December 2002. My first sighting in Louisiana.
Identification aids after observation:	Sibley, NG, Peterson, Master Guide, Stokes, Harrison, Google Image Web search.
This description is written from:	Notes taken about 4:00 p.m. the afternoon of March 6, 2004 after I got home. I'll try to attach a scan of those notes which include my sketch.
Are you positive of your identification? If not, explain:	Yes.
Reporter:	David P. Muth
Date and time:	June 17, 2004