{"id":98852,"date":"2022-01-11T04:20:09","date_gmt":"2022-01-11T11:20:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=98852"},"modified":"2022-01-11T04:54:43","modified_gmt":"2022-01-11T11:54:43","slug":"focusing-on-american-coot-photos-at-farmington-bay","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2022\/01\/11\/focusing-on-american-coot-photos-at-farmington-bay\/","title":{"rendered":"Focusing On American Coot Photos At Farmington Bay"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"AmericanAmerican Coot feeding on frosty grasses – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
\n<\/span><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I spent part of my time focusing on taking American Coot photos in the marshes and wetlands of Farmington Bay WMA. I adore these goofy birds. The first American Coots that I photographed yesterday were on dry land. Frosted dry land. Some of those coots were actively foraging and feeding on the frosty grasses and other vegetation.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot eating frosty vegetation while at rest – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Some of the coots showed a behavior I had not seen or photographed for this species before. Those coots were laying on the frost covered ground as if they were resting but they were eating the vegetation from where they had plopped their bodies down. I thought their behavior was interesting. I also wondered if they were conserving their energy and body warmth since it was a brisk 19 degrees when I photographed them.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot foraging on frosty vegetation – Nikon D500, f10, 1\/500, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

A few of the coots seemed to be feeding as they normally do when they are on dry land. The frost was fairly thick on the vegetation in some areas.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult American Coot checking out ice in the marsh – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1\/1250, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Later in the morning near the nature center I found a few more American Coots that I decided to photograph that were on ice. I enjoyed watching the coots walking around every bit as much as I did taking photos of them.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot adult with a lifted foot – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/640, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Because they were on top of the ice I could see their big, green, lobed feet. Their feet slipped often on the ice and I could not help myself. I had to laugh.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult American Coot standing on thin ice at Farmington Bay – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

The coots on the ice weren’t busy feeding, instead they preened and looked around. As this coot looked up I noticed that the blue sky reflecting off of the thin ice seemed especially vibrant yesterday morning.<\/p>\n

\"AdultAdult American Coot getting a sip of water – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, +0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

When this coot tried to get sip of the thin layer of water on the ice I couldn’t help but notice its reflection. I also liked this pose.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot watching water droplets fall from its foot – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

Of all the coot photos I took yesterday morning this one was my favorite. I can only surmise that the coot was watching the water droplets fall from its foot because that is what it appeared to be doing. Whether it was watching the droplets of water or not I will never know but I like thinking that it was.<\/p>\n

\"AmericanAmerican Coot looking at its big green feet – Nikon D500, f8, 1\/800, ISO 500, -0.3 EV, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light<\/span><\/p>\n

This last photo made me chuckle a bit. It made me wonder if the coot thinks its big, green feet are as improbable as they look. Just kidding about the coot thinking that but coot feet do look improbable. It doesn’t take much to amuse me.<\/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":"

Yesterday morning I spent part of my time focusing on taking American Coot photos in the marshes and wetlands of Farmington Bay WMA. I adore these goofy birds.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":98828,"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":[137,27,1022,697,26],"tags":[4004,4010,7013,12124,2772,2773,3981,7380,4286,4620,6452,4040,7229,10011,12685,3983,368,4121,3747,4109,5742,4064,12686,4094,11389,9814,12687,11568,30,6917,3996,3485,373],"class_list":["post-98852","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-coots","category-avian","category-davis-county-utah","category-farmington-bay-wma","category-utah","tag-adult","tag-american-coot","tag-big","tag-checking","tag-coot","tag-coots","tag-davis-county","tag-droplets","tag-eating","tag-fall","tag-farmington-bay-wma","tag-feeding","tag-feet","tag-foot","tag-forating","tag-frost","tag-frosty","tag-fulica-americana","tag-grass","tag-grasses","tag-green","tag-ice","tag-lifted","tag-marsh","tag-out","tag-rest","tag-sip","tag-thin","tag-utah-2","tag-vegetation","tag-water","tag-wetland","tag-winter"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/01\/american-coot-adult-water-droplets-mia-mcpherson-7071.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-pIo","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":120837,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2024\/02\/11\/urban-american-coot-close-up-photos\/","url_meta":{"origin":98852,"position":0},"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, 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2017","format":false,"excerpt":"American Coots are quarrelsome birds and they are quick to give chase whether it is over food or territory and they will fight, sometimes even to death, for both.","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 Coots running on the water, Farmington Bay WMA, Davis County, Utah","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.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-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.jpg?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/american-coot-chase-mia-mcpherson-1168.jpg?resize=525%2C300&ssl=1 1.5x, 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2013","format":false,"excerpt":"Looking at the huge lobed feet of American Coots is enough to make me laugh. 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