Crested Grebe

In New Zealand, South Island only, these birds breed on lowland lakes west of the Southern Alps and subalpine and alpine lakes east of the main ranges, the greatest number inland Canterbury.
This is where I have spent the most amazing weekend with some of the heavyweights of NZ bird photographers. I learnt so much. We spent 3 days at Lake Clearwater which is very near the main divide, and is part of the Ashburton Lakes.
Before mating,, these grebes perform an elegant mutual courtship dance to establish the pair bond. By far the commonest display is that of head shaking while facing each other in water, and this is acompanied by the raising of the ruff of feathers about the throat and head and excited gurgling chatter from both. When excitement reaches a higher pitch they rise almost vertically in the water, breast to breast and bill to bill. We did manage to see this but couldnt photograph it. These birds spend all their life on the water- because their legs are small and set back on their bodies to allow them to swim very well, and consequently are very clumsy on land. They are able to fly though.