The pointless exercise of shepherding small Coots.
April 28th 2019
Welcome in the cuddly town of Alblasserdam!
All the chicks were alive and well the next morning, but today they were in the habit of falling or jumping in the water themselves. We scooped them out several times each, but they kept jumping or falling in so at one point we just gave up what seamed to become a pointless exercise. Maybe they’ve had a taste of adventure yesterday and are now impatient to explore the world.
Apart from the stress the Coot chicks were giving us, it was a slow day today. Lots of time for work and preparing the next stage of the trip. The weather is supposed to clear up tomorrow, so we’re leaving for Gouda.
The captains contemplating the planning for the day.
Today is Kings’ Day. Even though the marina is right in the town’s centre last night was quite peaceful. Of course there were some urban noises, though in all likelihood a lot less then there would have been in Dordrecht, because Alblasserdam is quite a lot smaller.
We went out to join the festivities in between rain showers. It wasn’t really bustling with activities but that was probably due to the weather. The people that had braved the weather in their orange clothes (orange is the national color) tried to make the most of it.
Orange people
A cover band was bravely singing ‘I will survive’, kids were being entertained by a guy in an orange suit and here and there were people selling bric-a-brac, old books and redundant paraphernalia. Rummage sales and flea markets are traditional on Kings’ Day, some people save up old stuff the whole year for this occasion. We didn’t stay for long. It was rather cold and the rain came again so we went back to the boat.
We were just savoring the aftertaste of a delicious tomato soup Jeroen made, when a small tragedy was unfolding outside. The owner of our neighboring motorboat hadn’t been here for a while and a Coot had made a nest on his swim platform on the back. But today he was back, and with gusto started his engine. We knew that the nest was there so we ran outside, and shouted that he had to kill the engine. The exhaust for the engine was 50 centimeters away from the nest and placed above the swim platform, so the hot water was gushing unto the plank where the nest sat. The Coot and her three little chicks were panicking, one chick stumbled out the nest and under the exhaust, another one fell into the water.
The coot still unaware of what is about to happen
The owner who hadn’t seen the nest had by now shut down the engine and looked out from the back to see what all the fuss was about. One chick scrambled back to the nest once the engine was silent, but the one that was drenched in exhaust water was apparently in bad shape, for he was dragging himself forward to the nest, one leg dangling helplessly behind him. The Coot was trying to drag him carefully towards her, rubbing her beak affectionately agains his. The third one was still bobbing up and down in the water, because the swimming platform has too high for him to get on.
By now the harbor master who was alarmed by the commotion, was shouting from the opposite side of the water to the guys on the motorboat that they can’t leave now because of the nest and that he would see to it that they wouldn’t because he was a fierce animal lover. The owner said sulkingly that of course he wasn’t planning to leave now he knew that there was a nest, he just hadn’t seen it.
In the Netherlands breeding water birds are protected, you can’t disturb a breeding bird or remove the nest. Every year you can see the same story unfold. Most boat owners don’t come in wintertime, so obviously the birds think that the boat isn’t going anywhere and makes a perfect spot to build a nest. When the boat owner returns in spring, he discovers there is a nest on his boat. Some owners try to block their swim platforms with nets to prevent birds from nesting there. It doesn’t always work though.
In the meantime the little chick was still in the water. We grabbed a fishing net and tried to scoop the chick out but he was slightly too far away. We passed the net to the guys on the motorboat and they managed to scoop the little chick out and put it gently on the swim platform. It quickly scuttled back to the big Coot who gave an appreciative hoot, and peace returned to the marina.
Hopefully the little chick with the lame leg is going to be alright.
