The baby coots have hatched and are looking adorable! Well, fluffy to say the very least. I apologise for the poor quality of the photos, understandably the parents dont want me too near their babies. They hatched out about a fortnight ago and the little balls of fluff are growing quickly. These two photos are taken about a week apart, the top one is the most recent. Unfortunately they seem to have lost 2 of their babies as they started out with 7 and only seem to have 5 now. The father coot is extremely protective of his young brood, he chases away or attacks any other bird that is near to where his babies are swimming. I have never seen the babies leave the lake, which is probably a good thing as the ravens are renown for turning baby chicks of any species into a quick meal. Overall, Id have to say that coots are amongst the better parents that Ive observed water bird species. On average most of their offspring survive, both parents help raise the chicks and they are very protective of them. Its uplifting to watch the chicks grow and survive childhood because so often I have to watch the harsh reality of 'thats nature'.
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