Young Coots in the Nest

Today our small tour group left the Peak District and spent the day at Old Moor, a splendid RSPB* refuge east of Sheffield. It has numerous hides (blinds), most with good views of numerous birds. This nest was directly in front of one of them. The youngsters had been swimming around with their parents, but retired to the nest to be blipped. They probably can't yet fly more than a few feet at most, but they can basically feed themselves (though often in tandem with the parents).

The refuge is fortunate to have one of the few nesting bitterns in England, reportedly with three chicks (bitterns are a much sought-after, very secretive bird in the heron family). We waited for a good 90 minutes in hopes of seeing the mother fly to the nest area to feed them (the father is not involved in that), but she did not appear. Nevertheless it was a wonderful day. In the evening we drove near our hotel in search of owls; we saw only one in the far distance (probably a long-eared owl).

*RSPB = Royal Society for the Protection of birds--Britain's closest equivalent to the Audubon Society in the United States.