Some people don’t know that the word “coot” is a bird’s name. Yeah, the American Coot, I tell them. People shrug. They still think a coot’s an old guy, whether he’s an American or not.
American Coots are duck-like birds that aren’t ducks. You see them near ponds and rivers around here. Sometimes coots stay in winter if the water’s not frozen. I saw one recently in the woods. It was a strange sighting, gory yet bloodless.
I was bushwhacking in a preserve that had a pond at its center. Nothing much happening by the water. So I moved into the adjoining old-growth woods. I saw a Red-breasted Nuthatch right away and followed it. This is less common than the White-breasted. It played with me by always staying on the opposite side of any tree. Still, I got a glimpse.
Last year, I’d seen a fox run into a hole near here. I remembered that Native Americans sometimes named places for memorable sightings, and thought that the spot where I stood could be called “place of the fox.”
My thoughts were interrupted by the loud tapping of a woodpecker. I looked up and didn’t see it, but did catch the quick, quiet departure of a Red-tailed Hawk from its place in a tall tree. On the ground near that tree I saw an American Coot. I walked over, wondering if it would fly off, and also wondering why it was in the woods, away from the pond.
It was dead. And only half there, the top half. Neat black feathers. Intact head. Wings that seemed like they could work. An unruffled bird. Except, no bottom. Like those victims of shark attacks that float after a shipwreck, looking like survivors until you tip them over and there’s nothing from the waist down.
I picked up the half-coot. You could plop it onto your head as a hat. A hollow coot. I guess the guts had been eaten and the blood had dried. The hawk must have caught the coot near the pond and brought it into the trees for a meal. I was looking at leftovers.
Didn’t see much else on my way out. The Red-breasted Nuthatch was still hiding on the opposite sides of trees. I left the woods and walked near the pond. There were lots of Mallards there, and a bunch of American Coots. Enough for several meals, I thought, in the place of the fox.
Reading your posts is like taking a trip out into the woods. It’s a nice break from the daily grind. You should have grabbed the half-coot “hat.” Might have made a nice holiday gift for someone.