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It’s hardly a secret that we love coots around here (the birds, not senile old men!) We love them in their magnificent diversity from their black, beknobbed heads to their fantastic fissipalmate feet. Our affection for them is so deep that we can get lost for hours in the tiny little details that separate Black [...]

Common Moorhen Gallinula chloropus chloropus
UK. Various dates

As its colloquial name suggests this is a common breeding bird of marshy environments and lakes with plenty of bankside undergrowth. It is sometimes a secretive bird, scurrying back into cover when disturbed, but most birders (and many non-birders) will know them as being quite tame in many areas [...]

For the uninitiated, the word “coot” calls to mind nothing more than doddering old codgers and curmudgeons. Nature lovers, on the other hand, are privy to an entirely new complement of coots, a collection of charming charcoal wading birds found throughout most of the world.

American Coots
Coots are mid-sized waders in the genus Fulica. Technically rails, [...]

It took until the last day I was in northeastern Germany to see Eurasian Coots. I was worried I wouldn’t see one at all, but Hendrik and I tracked some down in some sewage ponds (don’t worry, the story will be told). We didn’t get the best looks but we did see them. [...]