On Monday I spotted a large raft of American Coots (Fulica americana) in the waters off of Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Some of the coots were clustered so tightly together that that it reminded me of the Metro at rush hour. Many of us seem to like a bit more “personal space,” but these coots did not seems to mind being shoulder-to-shoulder with each other. Do birds have shoulders?
I have no idea how many coots were in this group, but there seemed to be hundreds of them, as you can see in the second image. If you look closely at that photo, you may notice some other species, including some scaups, intermixed with the coots. The image is mostly made up of shades of gray, which make the brown tones of several of the ducks near the center of the frame really stand out.
I visited the same wildlife refuge yesterday and did not see a single coot—I guess they were just passing through our area.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Mike Powell 