Waterfowl on the Move

Spending a few hours on a local lake Friday it was evident that the fall waterfowl migration is gaining momentum.  The number of pied-billed grebes has grown considerably in the past week.  Whereas I had been spotting just four pied-billed grebes during each visit the last few weeks on this visit as I trolled the length of the lake small groups of grebes were feeding along the entire shoreline.  Most were wary of the boat however this one allowed me to approach very closely.  

The surprise of the day came when I encountered a coot feeding near the shoreline.

 While coots are a common enough bird, finding them in my area is uncommon.  I could probably count all of my local coot sightings on one hand.  The best part of the sighting was that the coot wasn't the least concerned about my presence and continued to feed regardless of how close I approached.

By mid-day the calm morning had given way to windy conditions as dark clouds scuttled across the sky.  With the lake becoming increasingly choppy it was time to leave but not before snapping this shot of a canoe posed against a tapestry of autumn color.