{"id":50454,"date":"2018-01-02T05:26:34","date_gmt":"2018-01-02T12:26:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=50454"},"modified":"2025-10-08T13:37:26","modified_gmt":"2025-10-08T18:37:26","slug":"coots-coots-and-more-coots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/01\/02\/coots-coots-and-more-coots\/","title":{"rendered":"Coots, Coots and More Coots"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"TwoTwo American Coots involved in a chase – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The last birds I photographed in 2017 were American Coots and some of the first birds I took photos of in 2018 were also coots. I was excited to go out to photograph birds yesterday morning but the radar\/satellite indicated clouds so I opted to not go out photographing in the morning.<\/p>\n

Instead I made my yearly trek to Best Buy to purchase a new external portable hard drive for 2018. I don’t store the photos I take on the internal drive of my computer, I store them on the small portable hard drives by the year and back them up to a larger external drive.<\/p>\n

Storing precious photos on your actual computer hard drive isn’t wise at all. They are too easy to lose in a hard drive failure.<\/p>\n

Also, who wants to keep a half a dozen old computers handy nearby to access those images?<\/p>\n

Anyway, it was after 10 am when I went out the door to go to get the hard drive and the first bird I saw and heard for 2018 was a Black-billed Magpie. I’m happy it was a corvid, they fascinate me.<\/p>\n

\"AnAn aggressive American Coot in a chase – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I could have gone photographing in the morning, the clouds the radar\/satellite showed over the Salt Lake Valley weren’t as bad as indicated and they cleared up rather quickly.<\/p>\n

In fact; it turned out to be a beautiful morning.<\/p>\n

I went to the local pond later in the afternoon to take photos of the birds there and the busiest plus the most cantankerous birds were American Coots<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

The coots squabbled, they stalked each other, they chased, and they fought. Coots can be entertaining.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot chasing another coot out of its territory – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

I guess I could wish that the first bird I photographed in 2018 was a glorious Bald Eagle, a stooping Peregrine Falcon, a flock of Tundra Swans flying overhead, or a Great Horned Owl with prey, but in all honesty I love coots just as much as I do those birds.<\/p>\n

In my mind a bird is a bird is a bird.<\/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":"

The last birds I photographed in 2017 were American Coots and some of the first birds I took photos of in 2018 were also coots.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159526,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[137,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,5554,5246,5643,4010,4284,2772,2773,4121,10698,1984,6308,8018,3996,16369,373],"class_list":["post-50454","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-avian","category-salt-lake-county-utah","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-afternoon-light","tag-aggressive","tag-aggressive-behavior","tag-american-coot","tag-chase","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-fulica-americana","tag-park","tag-pond","tag-territory","tag-urban","tag-water","tag-willow-pond-park","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-4807.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-d7M","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":111089,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/03\/12\/one-tranquil-american-coot\/","url_meta":{"origin":50454,"position":0},"title":"One Tranquil American Coot","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"March 12, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Calm and tranquil, this American Coot photographed 3 days ago stood out from its typically aggressive and territorial behavior during the breeding season.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Tranquil American Coot on a March morning, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-coot-tranquil-pond-mia-mcpherson-5637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-coot-tranquil-pond-mia-mcpherson-5637.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-coot-tranquil-pond-mia-mcpherson-5637.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/american-coot-tranquil-pond-mia-mcpherson-5637.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":120837,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/11\/urban-american-coot-close-up-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":50454,"position":1},"title":"Urban American Coot Close Up Photos","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"February 11, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Because it was a bright, sunny day yesterday morning, I went down to my local ponds. I photographed an American Coot munching on frosty grass near one of them.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Urban American Coot in winter, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-coot-winter-pondside-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-coot-winter-pondside-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-coot-winter-pondside-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/american-coot-winter-pondside-mia-mcpherson-7535.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":115372,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/08\/24\/baby-american-coot-images\/","url_meta":{"origin":50454,"position":2},"title":"Baby American Coot Images","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"August 24, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"Yesterday morning, I spent some time taking photos of baby American Coots not far from where I live. It does seem late in the summer for coot 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":"Baby American Coot in Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-baby-summer-mia-mcpherson-8459.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-baby-summer-mia-mcpherson-8459.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-baby-summer-mia-mcpherson-8459.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/american-coot-baby-summer-mia-mcpherson-8459.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":49791,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2017\/12\/12\/feisty-pugnacious-and-aggressive-why-i-enjoy-photographing-american-coots\/","url_meta":{"origin":50454,"position":3},"title":"Feisty, Pugnacious And Aggressive – Why I Enjoy Photographing American Coots","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"December 12, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"While observing American Coots I can see that they are feisty, pugnacious and aggressive in their behaviors and they don't seem to take any guff from each other.","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 exhibiting patrolling behavior, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-coot-on-patrol-mia-mcpherson-2226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-coot-on-patrol-mia-mcpherson-2226.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-coot-on-patrol-mia-mcpherson-2226.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/American-coot-on-patrol-mia-mcpherson-2226.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":118347,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2023\/11\/18\/one-cute-coot-scoot\/","url_meta":{"origin":50454,"position":4},"title":"One Cute Coot Scoot","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 18, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"A few days ago, I was able to photograph one cute coot scooting past me at my local pond on a bright sunny Utah morning. The action tickled my funny bone.","rel":"","context":"In "American Coots"","block_context":{"text":"American Coots","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/category\/avian\/gruiformes\/american-coots\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Scooting Coot being chased, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/11\/american-coot-scooting-fall-mia-mcpherson-7516.jpg?resize=700%2C400&ssl=1 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":108197,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/11\/23\/american-coot-and-funky-reflection\/","url_meta":{"origin":50454,"position":5},"title":"American Coot And Funky Reflection","author":"Mia McPherson","date":"November 23, 2022","format":false,"excerpt":"I spent about 45 minutes at my local pond yesterday afternoon and one of my favorite images from being there was this American Coot with a funky reflection.","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 reflection, Salt Lake County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-adult-reflection-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-adult-reflection-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-adult-reflection-mia-mcpherson-4464.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/11\/american-coot-adult-reflection-mia-mcpherson-4464.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\/50454","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=50454"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/50454\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/159526"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=50454"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=50454"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=50454"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}