Mystery cormorant-like bird Englishmans River 12 Jan

[Carol Muth]

At mid-tide, 4:10 pm today (12 Jan) I looked down onto the rocks at the river side of the bridge going over the Englishmans River and startled a bird on the rocks below. It began flailing it's long pointed wings and struggling to get up and reach the water. Wally came over to the rail and watched with me as the bird struggled to the edge and did a quick up-down dive into the waves and disappeared under the bridge.  I had time to notice two white patch areas on what I thought were the bird's outstretched wings, I said, "Oh it's a poor injured Guillemot!"  It did have a beak like a Guillemot. It was not quite as small, though,  maybe the size of a Raven. I started trying to take a photo but my camera was frozen by the cold wet air and it showed black for two shots, so (tech-smart I am not) I turned it off and then on again and set it to Auto. By then the bird had made it beyond the bridge and out to Englishmans Bay and I got a few photos. Here at home I accidentally deleted the only photo I took of its outspread wings (where I thought I had seen two wide stripe-like patches) and then realized I actually had a very overexposed image, not a complete blank. Maybe someone can enhance the shadow that remains on the second photo. 

   The bird seems much (much!) too small for a Great Cormorant, but what else could it be?

    I will now post the photos on e-bird, even the one taken when the shutter was frozen, so people can help me with this bird.  Thank you!

[Weston Barker]

The bird in your photos appears to a Red-necked Grebe in winter plumage. From what i can tell from your pictures, the bird has a pointed yellow bill with a dark tip, a dark neck, back, and top of its head, and a lighter patch on its cheek. All of these markings are typical of a Red-necked Grebe, and they also do have a large white patch in each of their wings.

-Weston Barker