Mud Hen Pool Party

 I stopped by south cove in Old Saybrook last weekend. There were plenty of ducks to be seen there including my first Northern Pintail of the year.

 This place is always loaded with Mute Swans. Many times I have counted over 100 hear, not that anyone's counting.

There was also a good number of American Coots. They are not more closely related to Sandhill Cranes and rails than they are to ducks. Some people call them mud hens. There are a lot of interesting details about coots that you can read about on the excellent All About Birds website from Cornell Lab of Ornithology. 

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I captured a video of them swimming around diving for food just below the causeway bridge.