Juvenile coot

Thank you for all the positive feedback yesterday; that was very uplifting!

I was torn between blipping this, and a photo I took 3 second later... I'll cheat, and put both up: the coot looks more evil here (appropriate), and more tufty and cute on the Blipfolio pic. It had just resurfaced after diving, so was beaded with water droplets.
Definitely better in large: its one yellow tufty hair (on this side) is more visible...

This is a juvenile coot/older cootling on the large pond on Wandsworth Common. It is one of 3, and they have lost almost all of their colourful tufts, but the parents are still feeding them (although they will, reluctantly, fend for themselves somewhat). They still squeal a lot...

I also took pictures of juvenile moorhens, Wandsworth's older Egyptian goslings (noticeably less pretty; I still find it surprising how much less charming they are...), ducklings (both tufted and mallard), and also the adult swans. I was pleased with some of my other photos (particularly the moorhens) but I just found this cootling the most captivating today (perhaps because I can still hear its scream).