a safe seat?
Whilst watching some gull behaviour on the Thames foreshore and listening to my returned Blackcap yesterday, my eye (well eyes actually) was/were drawn to a Coot. Not everyone will be drawn to a Coot going about its business and I generally try to resist, but as this one was sitting down I thought I'd pay a bit more attention. Not only was it sitting down but it was pretending that it was on a nest. I'll insert the picture here for illustrative purposes.
I suppose that it wasn't pretending that it was on a nest, it thought that it had found a nest and in prime location! Just look at the proximity to the water! Ideal nesting habitat! However, that water that you can see is the Thames at nearly low tide. This little area had been exposed for little over a half an hour, and this Coot had plonked it's behind down and started looking around like birds do when they settle onto a nest. Inquisitive but bolshy and vulnerable at the same time. Swear words entered my head, and then increased when it started to call to it's mate who promptly started dragging nest material from the edge of the water.
One hour from this and it will be flooded out. In a few hours it will be three metres underwater. They will, of course, have absolutely no recollection of this tomorrow and do it all over again. Just like the rest of the Coots round here and just as you would have expected.
As daft as Coot, and then some.
