THE GEEZER AND THE COOT

You should not settle near wetlands if you suffer from anatadaephobia. You're presuming that’s a fear of ducks, aren't you? Oh, it’s so much better than that. It’s the fear that ducks are looking at you. My advice would be, if you are ever in the presence of an anatadaephobe, you should not raise your glass and say, “Here’s looking at you, ducky.”

We have a huge variety of ducks stop by our pond for a swim and a little bluegill sushi on summer evenings. So many ducks, so hard to tell apart. You’ve got your crested, your mallards, your teals; your ring necked, your shovelers, and your buffleheads. You can add in some whistlers and widgeons, too.

What we seldom see is a lonesome duck. Commonly there are 3-4 pairs paddling around together, at the very least one pair. This is why I was interested to see an unusually large black and white duck with red eyes making a solo cruise around the pond.

I became concerned when he dove under water and didn’t resurface. Not for a long, long time. I was in my boat; if he had come back up, I’d have seen him.

He did surface eventually, and when he saw me, he got up and ran across the water. He hobbled along, finally becoming airborne. Usually ducks can get up and away in seconds; they’re very skittish. This fellow labored into the air like a foundering DC3, and it took him half the length of the pond to lift off. Once he was in the air, I could see why he was having trouble lifting off––he had huge, lobed feet. This was a duck in mukluks.

Turns out our visitor wasn’t an odd duck or any other kind, either. He was an American Coot, a member of the rail family. And their feet are big and fat like Big Bird’s. Because it’s too hard for experts to keep saying “big fat feet like mukluks,” they describe these lobed feet as fissipalmate.

Coots have a white marking on their faces. (If you know the card game Indian Poker in which you hold a card against your forehead, you get the picture.) Their eyes are red and look like amber glass. 

Ms. Coot

They may have trouble getting off the ground, but Coots can fly long distances. Long as in overseas. They’re quite territorial, so it’s no surprise I saw just one.




I've seen one female in 15 years. If you are lucky enough to see a group of these birds, it’s called a Raft of Coots, and really, what more could you ask for? Well, perhaps to get glimpse of a baby Coot––a little yellow pompom with a red beak (see link below).

So go ahead––call me a Coot.

I’d be pleased to be so cute.

For more about Coots:

http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Coot/id

To buy acrylic Coot eyes:

http://eyeconicstore.com/product.php?ProductID=17

To see a BABY COOT and you really must, cut and paste this address:

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i1.treknature.com/photos/1482/coot.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.treknature.com/gallery/North_America/United_States/photo11028.htm&h=436&w=509&sz=128&tbnid=0WKXDWlH0Yj_oM:&tbnh=112&tbnw=131&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dbaby%2Bcoot&zoom=1&q=baby+coot&usg=__yIjnQtcUjKZbH2ZglmBkPAXQs6k=&sa=X&ei=UvVfTaDhF4OgtwfenamADA&ved=0CBoQ9QEwAA