Coot Club

Limited birding opportunities today so there was massive excitement this morning when I scanned the lake and found this...

A coot, honest

It doesn't get any better than that! Well, it didn't for me today anyway.

the twitching

Well, the autumn fizzled out without really ever getting started hereabouts! Haven't really been out and apart from a well-timed whooper swan from the jax, and a goldeneye on the lake, there's been nothing in the way of year tick action either (126).

So it was with great excitement and anticipation that I found myself on the shores of Lough Gill, County Kerry yesterday for a spot of dirty twitching. And the target? Ireland's 4th ever american coot, no less!

An american coot yesterday (not the bird on the right)

What. A. Bird. It was great! No really! I'd nearly say Awesome but thats frowned upon these days.

A good bit smaller than european coot, of which there were at least 13, so picking it out took a lot of skill and dedication. I noted the smaller shield,  more curved bill, and white undertails, which were surprisingly hard to see when the bird was actively diving, which it was a good bit. With a bit of time, all the key salient features could be seen, and all are visible in the above shot. I would say record shot but I'm too modest.

The male lesser scaup was nice too, but I'd run out of film by the time I got on it.

A grand afternoon out in the Kingdom altogether!