{"id":107716,"date":"2022-11-03T04:17:44","date_gmt":"2022-11-03T10:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=107716"},"modified":"2022-11-03T04:21:03","modified_gmt":"2022-11-03T10:21:03","slug":"american-coot-reflection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/03\/american-coot-reflection\/","title":{"rendered":"American Coot Reflection"},"content":{"rendered":"

This American Coot caught my eye on my latest trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge<\/span><\/a> three days ago in part because of the still water and the reflection of the bird.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot reflections \u2013 Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/640, ISO 320, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When I first saw the coot it was looking in my direction so I stopped my Jeep, trained my lens on the bird, and hoped for the coot to do something interesting. I didn’t have to wait long before it raised one of its big, lobed green feet, which I liked. Then the coot looked down at the mound of vegetation it was standing on which made it appear as if it was looking at its own reflection on the mirror-smooth water.<\/p>\n

There is nothing super special about this photo. The setting might even be considered busy and cluttered. But I like it and wanted to share the image.<\/p>\n

American Coots are an abundant species in North America. They are so common that there are bird photographers that tend to ignore them. I can’t, won’t, and don’t want to. I like coots.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Click here<\/span><\/a> to view more of my American Coot photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This American Coot caught my eye on my latest trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge three days ago in part because of the still water and the reflection of the bird.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":107711,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[137,124,27,1148,26],"tags":[4004,4010,970,2772,2773,4620,7229,4121,4094,2504,958,6917,3996,4095],"class_list":["post-107716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-bear-river-migratory-bird-refuge","category-avian","category-box-elder-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-coot","tag-autumn","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-fall","tag-feet","tag-fulica-americana","tag-marsh","tag-reflection","tag-reflections","tag-vegetation","tag-water","tag-wetlands"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-reflections-mia-mcpherson-3412.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-s1m","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":125253,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/21\/american-coot-on-the-last-day-of-winter\/","url_meta":{"origin":107716,"position":0},"title":"American Coot On The Last Day Of Winter","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 21, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"One of the birds I photographed on the last day of winter at Bear River MBR was an American Coot. I happen to like seeing their big, funky-looking feet.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Coot adult about to enter the water, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-last-day-of-winter-mia-mcpherson-1039.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-last-day-of-winter-mia-mcpherson-1039.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-last-day-of-winter-mia-mcpherson-1039.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-last-day-of-winter-mia-mcpherson-1039.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":99702,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/02\/06\/american-coot-entering-the-icy-bear-river\/","url_meta":{"origin":107716,"position":1},"title":"American Coot Entering The Icy Bear River","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 6, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"When I was up at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge late last week I photographed an American Coot entering the icy Bear River from the auto tour loop.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Coot splashing into the Bear River, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/american-coot-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/american-coot-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/american-coot-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/02\/american-coot-on-ice-mia-mcpherson-5507.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":46947,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/05\/27\/american-coot-chick-and-adult-at-bear-river-mbr\/","url_meta":{"origin":107716,"position":2},"title":"American Coot Chick and Adult at Bear River MBR","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"May 27, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"People usually think of American Coot chicks as either cute or ugly, I'm in the cute camp when it comes to these chicks.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"American Coot chick at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-chick-mia-mcpherson-8084.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-chick-mia-mcpherson-8084.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-chick-mia-mcpherson-8084.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/american-coot-chick-mia-mcpherson-8084.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":126291,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/03\/28\/drake-northern-shoveler-and-american-coot\/","url_meta":{"origin":107716,"position":3},"title":"Drake Northern Shoveler And American Coot","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 28, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"This drake Northern Shoveler swam past me on my last trip up to Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge. I couldn't resist taking photos of him. Why would I want to?","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Drake Northern Shoveler swimming by, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/northern-shoveler-drake-marsh-mia-mcpherson-0987.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":42736,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/10\/20\/american-coots-in-northern-utah\/","url_meta":{"origin":107716,"position":4},"title":"American Coots in Northern Utah","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 20, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"American Coots have interesting behaviors that I like to try to capture, for instance the way they run across the surface of the water during territorial chases.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Coot standing on ice, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-winter-mia-mcpherson-1236.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":117565,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/10\/28\/three-american-coots-side-by-side\/","url_meta":{"origin":107716,"position":5},"title":"Three American Coots Side By Side","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"October 28, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"What's better than having one coot in my viewfinder? I'd say having three American Coots side by side in my viewfinder at one time!","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Three American Coots in autumn, Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge, Box Elder County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-coot-trio-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5457.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-coot-trio-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5457.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-coot-trio-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5457.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/american-coot-trio-marsh-mia-mcpherson-5457.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107716","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107716"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107716\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/107711"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107716"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107716"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107716"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}