{"id":55438,"date":"2018-12-29T05:17:01","date_gmt":"2018-12-29T12:17:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=55438"},"modified":"2025-10-09T16:57:15","modified_gmt":"2025-10-09T21:57:15","slug":"focusing-on-a-feeding-american-coot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/12\/29\/focusing-on-a-feeding-american-coot\/","title":{"rendered":"Focusing On A Feeding American Coot"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Coot with food – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

After I finally got my site moved to the new server I took a much needed break and went to the local pond to see what birds were there in the late afternoon light.<\/p>\n

The north wind was bitter cold and it made my fingers smart but it felt so good to be away from my desk and the computer screen.<\/p>\n

The birds that came in the closest were Pied-billed Grebes and American Coots so I focused on both species as they dove under the water in search of food.<\/p>\n

American Coots are almost always amusing to me because coots make a lot noise, they squabble often, they fight, can be messy eaters, they have large, funny looking feet, and catching some of their behaviors in photos can be fun.<\/p>\n

One of the American Coots brought up a bill filled with aquatic vegetation so I focused on it because I know they can look funny while they are trying to gulp down their food.<\/p>\n

I wasn’t disappointed when the coot shook the water off of the green vegetation it had brought up from the bottom of the pond. Water droplets were flying everywhere.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot vigorously shaking its food – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

At home when I could see the photos I had taken on a much larger screen I nearly choked on my laughter when I saw this image of the coot vigorously shaking its food, the coot almost looks cross-eyed and I wasn’t aware that they could physically do that.<\/p>\n

Spending just a few minutes outside in the clear air photographing an amusing American Coot<\/span><\/a> was exactly what I needed after spending so much time at my desk during the move to the new server.<\/p>\n

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

Mia<\/p>\n

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

At home when I could see the photos I had taken on a much larger screen I nearly choked on my laughter when I saw this image of the coot vigorously shaking its food<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":159605,"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_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[137,27,709,26],"tags":[4004,5554,4010,2772,2773,4286,4121,1984,4502,8018,6917,3996,373],"class_list":["post-55438","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-american-coot","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-eating","tag-fulica-americana","tag-pond","tag-shaking","tag-urban","tag-vegetation","tag-water","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