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. Then, on my second day back in Berlin I dragged my non-birding friend Mike to Tiergarten and we saw a whole bunch of coots! And they were practically tame!
And then, several days later, on the same day and in the same location as my life Pochards, in a canal in the middle of Berlin, more coots! Hendrik, we need not have worried about tracking them down in Griefswald.
Corey is a New Yorker who lived most of his life in upstate New York but has lived in Queens since 2008. He's only been birding since 2005 but has garnered a respectable life list by birding whenever he wasn't working as a union representative or spending time with his family. He lives in Forest Hills with Daisy and Desmond Shearwater. His bird photographs have appeared on the Today Show, in Birding, Living Bird Magazine, Bird Watcher's Digest, and many other fine publications. He is also the author of the American Birding Association Field Guide to the Birds of New York.
The best part about Eurasian Coots was always how they took the bread you would throw them and race back and feed their babies with it. After they fed their babies more than enough (back and forth, back and forth), they would eventually eat themselves.
Great photos!