In addition to the large raft of American Coots (Fulica americana) that I spotted in the waters off of Occoquan Bay Wildlife Refuge last week and featured in a posting entitled A raft of coots, I also saw three coots near to the shore swimming around in a little circle like they were lost. I do not know if they had somehow gotten separated from the group, but they struck me as being very vulnerable—as several readers have noted, coots are vulnerable to being picked off by bald eagles.
This close-up shots highlight some of the notable characteristics of this species, including their red eyes and their legs that are placed rather far back on their bodies, making walking a bit of a challenge.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 
I love watching them walk.
The large lobed feet make them look look really unusual–in the water they might be mistaken for ducks, but not when you look at those feet.
I think they use those feet much the same as Gallinule, running on vegetation. Nice shots. Coot near me tend to be very shy.
I was wondering how the coot got its name and the closest I could come was it’s derived from the middle english word for a bald man…thus us fogeys are called old coots. Fulica is Latin for coot. Funny about it is that I’d figure with that as the history of the name they’d have white heads. Go figure. 🙂
They look like they’re watching something moving in the distance.