Compromised Coot

I got another shot of great crested grebes doing their weed dance this morning. I was watching a pair bobbing and mirroring and guessed that it was going to happen. I was shooting in poor light through trees so was not best pleased when a well-meaning woman interrupted at the crucial moment to tell me about a snipe that had been seen. Never mind, she said, they'll probably do it again when you go round the bend. I don't think they do dance again immediately but I kept my eye on them. I've added an image to extras of the male displaying. I've never seen this behaviour before. He has puffed himself up so that he looks twice the size of the female. Shame I was so far away.

I saw the coot above grazing while it was lying down, which is unusual. It turns out that the poor thing has an injured leg. It's horrible to see creatures in distress. These birds are loud, quarrelsome and not very popular. I have a bit of a soft spot for them because it was only yards from this spot that I shot one which made The Countryfile Calendar in 2016.