D'light and the Coots

We had a beautiful sunrise and were ready to see what was out and about.

 

 

 We move along the shoreline.  I still work at finding places that have different surfaces for D'light.  He's made a ton of progress of feeling comfortable on rocks, sand and other surfaces.

 

 

 

Watching the birds out in the lake.

 

 

Brave boy!

 

 

 

"That was enough water for me."

 

 

 

More bird watching...

 

 

 

A flock of American Coots and pair of Buffleheads.

 

 

 

 

"Mom, I know you like Coots!"

 

Yes and I do like the Coots and I will explain why as this post goes on.

 

 

 

 

We move on

 

 

 

"Here I am!"

 

 

More bird watching...

 

 

More Coots!  I've zoomed in on a couple in the flock.  There had to be at least a hundred Coots.  They swim in very large flocks and are pretty skittish. When one flies off, they all fly off and it's a pretty amazing sight.

 

 

 

How lucky for me to catch this!  A fish jumped out of the water which made D'light jump.  It all made me giggle.

 

 

 

"Where did that thing go?"

 

 

 

Sweet boy

 

 

D'light curious about the shoreline

 

 

 

Muddy!

 

 

 

 

"At least you have boots on your feet!"

 

 

 

Time to head out

 

 

We head home and I spot a flock of Coots and pull over to get some pictures. 

 

 

 

 

Coots have huge feet...

 

 

 

 

Here's a real picture of their feet - they are not webbed! This is not my picture but I love it.

 

 

 

 

As I said earlier, when the Coots take off it's a real show.  To get airborne, Coots typically have to beat their wings while running across the water for many yards.

 

Here you can see them moving on and "running on the water".

 

 

 

 

I always enjoy the American Coot!