American cootFulica americana
For all our futile searching for the wacky looking baby coots this past spring and summer, we not once spotted even an adult coot. They must nest elsewhere, despite numerous websites and books stating they're here year-round. I wish I had logged when we started seeing the adults in our area again; I think it might have been October, but I can't be sure of my memory now. In any case, we're now spotting numerous coots everywhere, from Crespi Pond along Shoreline Park as shown above, to El Estero, to Moss Landing and Elkhorn Slough. They're funny looking birds.
ps 10/02/11 - We saw our first coot of the season at Crespi Pond today. There was only one. I'm sure more will come. I still don't know where they nest. I really want to see a baby coot in person some day.
ps 10/02/11 - We saw our first coot of the season at Crespi Pond today. There was only one. I'm sure more will come. I still don't know where they nest. I really want to see a baby coot in person some day.
10 comments:
Wow! Have never seen a coot except in a bird book! ;)
Hey there - here's a link so you can see the "Mad Bluebird".
http://www.madbluebird.com/
Thank you, twg.
I birded for over 20 yrs seeing tons of adults before I saw the chicks w/ their bright punk mohawks! I love coots' feet.... but they always seem like contentious critters, ready to squabble.
Ugh. Thanks for telling me this, Janet. I figure they simply don't nest around here. I hope you're doing well, all things considered.
Coots are cute! Well, except I seem to remember their beaks were sharp along the edges. Had to scrub some excessive algae off a couple a number of years ago, and seem to remember bandaging my fingers after the fact. I tend to think they're often taken for granted. Had an apartment once on one of the Alameda lagoons, and except for night herons, coots seemed to be the most plentiful!
Clare, poor coots do seem to get the short end of the stick when it comes to bird love. Hey, I've linked to your blog in my banana slug post above. Check it out!
Whats that white thing with the black primaries on the right? Smells like a Ross' Goose...
Good observation, Steve. I figured it was a gull of some sort. Next time I'm by the pond, I'll pay better attention for possible Ross's geese.
Steve, I don't know if you subscribe to comments, but here I go... after adding a postscript of seeing coots again (and querying Don Roberson about a goose we saw this past summer), I appreciate your comment a little better. Ross's goose is fairly rare here. What made you think this? http://creagrus.home.montereybay.com/hybgoose.html
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