Of coots and cormorants

Cormorants. Don't they look like a gaggle of administrators?

Mysterious heron.

This morning's adventure provided proof that you don't have to go to Florida to be surrounded by old coots. We saw hundreds--possibly thousands--of coots at the Savannah National Wildlife Refuge, along with a variety of ducks and geese, a pair of moorhens, dozens of cormorants, a few anhingas, a whole flock of white egrets, and what else?

Glossy ibis.

Yellow-rumped warblers (a few). Red-winged blackbirds (a horde). An eagle, probably golden although the light was bad so it was hard to tell for sure. A pair of hawks. An ibis (glossy, I think). A flying heron that I haven't been able to identify--we saw it early while the sky was still dark so the colors are not clear, but it could be a black-crowned night heron. Or not.

Ruddy duck, I think.

No wood storks, which was kind of disappointing; in February I saw at least a dozen wood storks perching on a big dead tree at the south end of the refuge, a sight that took my breath away. We also didn't see much sun, thanks to an intermittent drizzle during our morning hike followed by an outright downpour once we got on the interstate. Rain followed us down the coast to Cocoa, but the coots stayed behind. (Florida has long since reached its coot quota--but that won't keep us away!)

The beautiful little blue heron.