It has been a little over 2 weeks and the recipients of the 2016 Ugly Chick Award have made some progress.  Feathers are filling in on their bald red heads.  I’m assuming this is the same brood of American Coots since they are in the same area on the south side of Highway 49.  The chicks are growing fast and already eating large amounts of aquatic plants.  The parents pull up a beak full of underwater vegetation and the chicks swim alongside and help themselves.

Both parents feed the chicks.  The chicks alternate back and forth between the two parents.  The family likes to take a swim together.