{"id":44150,"date":"2016-12-29T05:33:34","date_gmt":"2016-12-29T12:33:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=44150"},"modified":"2025-10-08T08:53:05","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T13:53:05","slug":"winter-american-coot-portrait","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2016\/12\/29\/winter-american-coot-portrait\/","title":{"rendered":"Winter American Coot Portrait"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Coot portrait – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/500, ISO 320, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

It isn’t often that I have an American Coot walk up so close to me that I can take portraits of them so as usual, I took the shots because I love portraits of my subjects when they can be taken in an ethical manner.<\/p>\n

Yesterday started off gloomy but it brightened up later in the day so a quick trip to the local pond was in order. It is close by, I can be there in a matter of minutes, and I feel like I can never know what interesting bird might show up.<\/p>\n

The slightly warmer weather had melted some of the ice on the pond and there was a spot of open water near the parking area.<\/p>\n

That is where the gulls, geese, ducks, and coots had gathered that was close enough to photograph birds from inside the relative warmth of a vehicle or as I like to call it, a mobile blind.<\/p>\n

When the birds settled back down on the pond this American Coot<\/span><\/a> walked up onto the shore with the open water behind it and I couldn’t resist taking portraits of it. It was almost too close to focus on but I did get some nice close ups of the coot.<\/p>\n

I like coots, I love their bright red eyes, their big, goofy looking feet, their dark plumage, and ivory-colored bills. What’s not to like?<\/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

By the way, I am super excited that President Obama designated two new National Monuments yesterday, Gold Butte in Nevada and Bears Ears right here in Utah. I was dancing for joy when I read Obama’s press release!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the birds settled back down on the pond this American Coot walked up onto the shore with the open water behind it and I couldn’t resist taking portraits of it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159480,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[137,27,709,26],"tags":[4010,4142,2772,2773,4121,1984,4046,5582,8018,3996,5583,16369,373],"class_list":["post-44150","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-american-coot","tag-close-up","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-fulica-americana","tag-pond","tag-portrait","tag-red-eye","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-white-bill","tag-willow-pond-park","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t