saw a sad sight at Canyon Park, yesterday... this little pied-billed grebe had got itself tangled up in some nylon netting, and was dragging it along. the marsh there used to be pretty much a dumping ground a few years back, i'm told, and while it's been cleaned up a lot, obviously some traces of the former problems remain. the net didn't seem to slow the grebe down on the surface, but it will definitely impede its underwater abilities, perhaps enough that it won't be able to catch fish. it certainly won't have full use of its wings, and if the net draws tighter, it will severely affect the grebe's ability to control its bouyancy. one can only hope it can work itself free before it either becomes trapped underwater by the net snagging on something, or becomes unable to fish...
