Population explosion

On my weekly bird count the heat was sweltering. Luckily, I found occasional solace in a few shaded gazebos along the way. The most abundant bird today was the common moorhen (Gallinula chloropus). There were babies everywhere you looked. I tallied over 150 moorhens in less than an hour on the 1 mile boardwalk loop. This is the second brood of the nesting season for most of these parents. The first brood can be found scattered about, some even helping with feeding the new brood. Most of the parents put up a fearless defense and hide their young when you approach but I managed to sneak up on this pair feeding in the duckweed.