At the secret lake

I used to think coots were rather inoffensive drab birds dabbling about on the water after emerging from their haunts of coot and hern. Now I know them to be ruthless thugs attacking other birds their nests, eggs and young, and twice the size below the water line. So after initial delight at seeing the return of the grebes we were horrified to see a pair of burly coots occupying the grebes' carefully constructed nest and refusing to budge, as you may see from a rather twiggy extra. We'll keep you posted..