We’ve seen this American Coot by the Yacht Club in Orleans many times in the past few weeks. It was always walking among scores of ducks and not that easy to photograph. (Click on blog link for other photos.)

We stopped there yesterday morning in the heavy fog just to see if there was anything going on and there was the American Coot foraging around through the grass all by himself. Not a duck in sight. What a treat! Look at those crazy feet!

“The American coot is a dark, duck-like bird in the rail family, often mistaken for a duck, with a distinctive white bill and red eyes, and is found in wetlands across North America. It has a slate-gray body, chicken-like walk, and unique lobed toes for swimming and walking on vegetation, feeding on aquatic plants and invertebrates.”

While I was trying to get that perfect photograph of those  individual “rare” birds at the Town Cove, Phil was taking in the whole view. I loved this photo he took of all of the “just ducks.” What do you think?

We’ve been  stopping at the Orleans Yacht Club almost daily to see what new birds we could find. Most of the time they were “just ducks,” but as we looked closer among them, we could see one that was just a bit different.

“The Northern Pintail is a widespread, migratory duck known for its elegant, slender build, long neck, and the male’s long, pointed tail feathers, which give it its name.”  It is rare to see this bird on Cape Cod this time of year and the first time we’ve ever seen one. What a treat!

Have you ever seen a Northern Pintail?