{"id":141796,"date":"2025-03-20T02:34:10","date_gmt":"2025-03-20T07:34:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=141796"},"modified":"2025-07-07T12:17:20","modified_gmt":"2025-07-07T17:17:20","slug":"american-coots-on-lower-scarborough-slough","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/20\/american-coots-on-lower-scarborough-slough\/","title":{"rendered":"American Coots On Lower Scarborough Slough"},"content":{"rendered":"

Lately, I\u2019ve been seeing hundreds of American Coots at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and a few days ago, I photographed some on Lower Scarborough Slough.<\/p>\n

\"FleetFleet of American Coots warming up on the shore of a slough \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f14, 1\/400, ISO 800, +0.3 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 278mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The refuge has many sloughs, and most of them have more than a few American Coots on them right now. These coots were warming up in the morning sun along the shore of Lower Scarborough Slough.<\/p>\n

When I can, I like to get group photos of birds, and these coots were cooperative.<\/p>\n

Did you know that a group of coots can be called a ‘commotion,’ ‘shoal,’ ‘swarm,’ or ‘fleet’ of coots? If you didn\u2019t, you do now.<\/p>\n

I know some bird photographers don\u2019t put much focus on getting coot photos, but I\u2019m not one of them. I really enjoy watching and photographing American Coots, anywhere, anytime.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn American Coot floats on silky deep-to-light blue water \u2013 Canon R7, handheld, f8, 1\/1250, ISO 800, +0.7 EV, Canon EF 100-400mm II at 400mm, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the coots were already out on the water, some foraging, others just floating on the calm surface.<\/p>\n

I really loved this coot photo because I had a great view of the bird, but the silky blue water had enormous appeal for me too. The gradient hues were simply beautiful.<\/p>\n

Coots may not be the most colorful birds, but I always like having them in my viewfinder.<\/p>\n

Oh, hey, happy first day of spring!<\/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":"

Lately, I\u2019ve been seeing hundreds of American Coots at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, and a few days ago, I photographed some on Lower Scarborough Slough.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":141791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_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":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[137,27,13973,13974],"tags":[4010,6076,13984,2772,2773,16312,4121,14912,4891,13022,13976,4985,3996,4095,373],"class_list":["post-141796","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-avian","category-oklahoma","category-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge","tag-american-coot","tag-blue","tag-bottomlands","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-floats","tag-fulica-americana","tag-lower-scarborough-slough","tag-shore","tag-silky","tag-slough","tag-warming-up","tag-water","tag-wetlands","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/american-coot-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcpherson-8580.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-AT2","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":141446,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/03\/11\/serenity-at-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":141796,"position":0},"title":"Serenity at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 11, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"While I was at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge yesterday, I found serenity in the beautifully peaceful views the refuge offers in late winter.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Serenity at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sequoyah-nwr-serenity-mia-mcpherson-7317.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sequoyah-nwr-serenity-mia-mcpherson-7317.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sequoyah-nwr-serenity-mia-mcpherson-7317.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/sequoyah-nwr-serenity-mia-mcpherson-7317.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":143168,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/04\/27\/low-crawling-young-bobcat-on-the-hunt\/","url_meta":{"origin":141796,"position":1},"title":"Low-crawling Young Bobcat On The Hunt","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"April 27, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"Today I\u2019m sharing photos of a low-crawling young Bobcat hunting for coots, taken April 7th at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Bobcats"","block_context":{"text":"Bobcats","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/wildlife\/bobcats\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Low-crawling young Bobcat, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bobcat-young-spring-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcherson-2781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bobcat-young-spring-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcherson-2781.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bobcat-young-spring-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcherson-2781.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/bobcat-young-spring-sequoyah-nwr-mia-mcherson-2781.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":153703,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2025\/08\/31\/sunrise-at-lower-scarborough-slough-sequoyah-national-wildlife-refuge\/","url_meta":{"origin":141796,"position":2},"title":"Sunrise at Lower Scarborough Slough, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 31, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"This morning I am sharing a simple image of sunrise at the Lower Scarborough Slough. There are several sloughs at Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge in Oklahoma.","rel":"","context":"In "Oklahoma"","block_context":{"text":"Oklahoma","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/locations\/oklahoma\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Sunrise at Lower Scarborough Slough, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-6813.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-6813.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/sequoyah-nwr-lower-scarborough-slough-sunrise-mia-mcpherson-6813.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2026","format":false,"excerpt":"Last week I was tickled to photograph an adult Great Blue Heron in a morning mist at the Lower Scarborough Slough area of Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge.","rel":"","context":"In "Birds"","block_context":{"text":"Birds","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Great Blue Heron in morning mist at Lower Scarborough Slough, Sequoyah National Wildlife Refuge, Oklahoma","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/great-blue-heron-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-5078.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/great-blue-heron-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-5078.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/great-blue-heron-morning-mist-mia-mcpherson-5078.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 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