More old coots

Actually, I've no idea if today's coots were old or young, but having only recently seen my first coot, I must confess to being delighted with their white bills and funky feet. Of course, having had no intention of birding on today's ramble, there was no camera in my pocket, so anyone unfamiliar with coots will need to check out the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site for pictures and information. The American coot is evidently another common bird that I had managed to miss for more than half a century, but today we saw a whole flock of them hanging out with the mallards and Canada geese under the old railroad bridge linking downtown Marietta and Historic Harmar Village.

The most surprising (to me) fact about this small waterfowl is that it is actually more closely related to the sandhill crane, which it resembles not at all, than to either the ducks with which it swims or the chickens it resembles.