On the sixth day of the Lunar New Year, shrouded in dense fog, I strolled through the city after lunch and noticed that the seagulls had returned, along with a kind of black water bird with a white crown. ChatGPT called it a “coot,” a term that amusingly sounded like it had been coined on the fly. To my surprise, it actually exists – even humorously referred to as “the world’s most skilled swimming chicken.”
Not long ago, my cousin posted a close-up of a red bishop in our group chat that he had taken with a bird-watching telescope in Mauritius. An elderly Swedish lady from the Language Coffee Corner often shares amusing stories from her birding club.
Although we lack the proper equipment and organization, we still get a kick out of discovering new species, like the time this summer when we spotted a creature in the canal and, after debating whether it was a sea lion or a seal, we discovered that its actual Chinese name is “sea dog”.
The coot we found today, although originally from Sweden, is also common in China and migrates with the seasons, possibly settling in the Summer Palace during the winter. Unfortunately, we only saw its “duck-like” aspect today and missed the chance to observe it on land.
I am reminded of a scene in the movie Peter Rabbit where, upon returning to London, the protagonist finds his bird-watching journal now only filled with entries of pigeons.