Gary Nuechterlein, a grebe specialist at North Dakota State University, posits that feathers might protect the stomach lining from tiny sharp bones when the young are fed minnows, or they could help to capsulize indigestible material so it can be regurgitated as pellets. Adults also eat feathers, perhaps for the same purposes. When first photographing the birds, I was too eager to get close. Twice I got pecked above the knee. Luckily, I was wearing heavy rubber waders that kept me from getting pierced.
Funny things can happen too.
One day two fellows fished for sunfish just a few feet from where I floated, undetected, in the rushes. I couldn't hold back a sneeze. Well, you sure have, or you wouldn't sneeze like that. Since I first noticed western grebes on Lake Osakis, I haven't been able to pass up this terrific photo opportunity. Yes, but the kind of hard work I dream of doing.