Cootling: less than two days old!
I've been regularly checking in on a coot couple that have been sitting on a nest for a while now: well, she seems to sit on the nest, and he scavenges around for more twigs/feathers/freezer bags to incorporate into the mound...
I checked on Monday and there she was sitting on the nest; she got up at one stage and there were many eggs underneath her (exciting!). I went back today and there it was: one of her eggs has hatched and it is the smallest cootling I've yet seen! It must be less than 2 days old, and it is tiny! It was only exposed for about a minute before she poked it and then nestled back down on it. Its beak was visible for about another minute, then it rearranged itself and disappeared out of sight entirely.
When I saw it, it was peeping almost inaudibly to itself: it looked up at its mother like this the entire time it was exposed. Awww.
Its wing looks so bizarre!
I'm going to visit them again tomorrow to see if any more of the eggs have hatched. Watch this space!
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