February American Coot portrait, Salt Lake County, UtahFebruary American Coot portrait – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/4000, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

After an extremely snowy night and morning I was able to get out yesterday afternoon and take some wintry American Coot portraits close to home.

This American Coot was so close to me that I wasn’t sure I was going to obtain images of it that were sharply in focus. I was pleased with how crisp the portraits actually especially considering that I forgot to set my ISO lower. The last time I had been out to photograph birds the light was awful so I had raised it to ISO 1000. Normally in brighter conditions I would have it set at ISO 500 or lower. Oops!

I am happy with the sharpness, the fine feather details, and the close up view of coot’s red eye. The water droplets on the bill of the coot were an lovely bonus.

Snowy American Coot portrait, Salt Lake County, UtahSnowy American Coot portrait – Nikon D500, f8, 1/4000, ISO 1000, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

When the American Coot moved slightly there was a mound of snow behind its face when I took this portrait. The coot’s dark feathers stood out well from the bright, white background.

Substantial snowfall took a long time to arrive here in the Salt Lake Valley this winter but when it finally arrived it dumped on us and broke two records. Yesterday 11.7 inches of snow fell at the Salt Lake City International Airport which broke the previous record set in 1926. The second record we broke here yesterday was the highest snow total all-time in Salt Lake City for the month of February. The previous daily record for the month was 10.9 inches on February 1, 1989. We needed this moisture.

The snow was beautiful and the storm itself was impressive.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to view more of my American Coot photos plus facts and information about this species.