Photographing bathing birds is always fun but getting quality photos during all the pandemonium isn’t easy, especially when a black bird with a white bill is involved.
Six days ago at a local pond this American Coot allowed me a close up look at ‘his’ ablution. I’m always surprised by how often waterfowl feel the need to bathe since they spend so much time on and in the water but it does make for some interesting photo ops.
Coots are difficult photo subjects during their bath. Like other birds it’s hard to get their eyes open and visible during the frenetic activity but the deep blacks on their head and dorsal surfaces make it extra challenging to get much detail there, especially without overexposing their mostly white bill..
The flying water drops can also present a problem. If one of them is directly in front of the eye, as in the first photo above, it can be more than a little distracting to the viewer.
Most waterfowl are extremely buoyant so they have to work hard to get water to wash over the tops of their bodies and that effort can result in some interesting photos. Here I caught him with one wing flopping out of position and his head all sucked down into his body.
But as we can see his strategy worked.
I’m not sure how he managed to get this narrow stream of water shooting over his back but it was definitely an effective bathing technique, no matter how he did it.
Several times he rose vertically out of the water and slapped one or the other of his wings against the water’s surface – never both at the same time.
It was a struggle for him to get his entire body underwater – this is about as close as he came.
For reasons I’ve discussed in the past coots are easy to ignore but the bird photographer does so at his/her own peril. Interesting behaviors such as bathing or fighting can erupt at any moment so the photographer has to be prepared. And their incredibly ugly chicks are a photographer’s dream.
But their chicks are a subject for another day.
Ron
Note to photographers:
Image techs for these photos: 1/3200, f/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender
Loved all this series. I’m always amazed by their very large, colorful and segmented feet. I’m looking forward to the very unattractive chicks. I’ve had several Hawks bath in our birdbath and yes, they splash so much water out.
I can definitely watch birds bathe and preen for hours and hours. You’ve done such a great job getting so much detail of both the bird and the water in this series. Normally, I just see a bunch of splashing and wings. Kudos, as this is definitely a high DOD situation. 🙂
I have to giggle at some of the coot’s positions in each shot. It reminds me when we used to play “freeze frame” at dances — there were some very strange body arrangements for sure.
Thanks, Marty. Freeze frame is pretty much what I’m doing with my camera.
That coot is having a grand time bathing! As my water is off since Friday due to a leak and not wanting to pay emergency fees to the plumber, I really envy him right now. Quarantine is a blessing as I do NOT want to be around people right now. LOLOL
Geez, being without water isn’t any fun, even for a relatively short time. I hope you had some warning so you could fill a few containers before it was turned off.
We did! Now we are both laughing at ourselves because SUDDENLY we need to hydrate. Urgently. LOLOLOL
You know I love coots and watching one bathe is about as great as it gets!
Well… maybe photographing them bathing is just a little bit better. 🙂
I confess I’m one of those who has mostly ignored coots, I’m so focused on raptors and songbirds. But I’ll be looking for them next time I’m near a lake (which may be a while yet) because of your photos!
We got 1/2” rain and hail (!) yesterday, and the birds were out in force after it passed by, enjoying every puddle in the yard and the overly full birdbath. It just doesn’t get much better than that.
Chris, we got both rain and snow but I’m sure not seeing many birds around today.
You’re rearranging my list of favorite birds. First Mallards, now Coots. What next, Starlings and Pigeons?
“What next, Starlings and Pigeons?”
Don’t be surprised, Lyle. Starlings are beautiful this time of year and I raised pigeons as a kid so I have a soft spot for them.
This is a great series – and for some of us Coots are not common. (Have never seen one.) Appreciate learning about a new bird and its activities. Word of the day: ablution. Thx Ron! 🙂
Kathleen, you’re in an elite group of people to have never seen a coot.
Glad you enjoyed the word of the day.
Joyful series of photos! I always enjoys catching the ablutions…sometimes it is in the smallest pool of water in a field or roadside. Our heated bird bath is in constant use…sometimes the rim is completely filled as they seem to take turns jumping in and splashing. Must be one of the pleasures of life for them!
“Must be one of the pleasures of life for them”
And for us when we watch them.
I adore (and that is not too strong a word) watching birds bathe. They give themselves over to it so completely.
A related activity which I have seen more than once is birds hanging up side down in the rain (typically from telegraph lines) fanning their wings out – to get their pits clean.
Hooray for your snow. We are still in a heat wave with predictions (truthful I hope) of rain to break it in a day or two.
EC, that hanging upside down in the rain is a behavior I’ve never photographed but I once photographed very young Burrowing Owls going through incredible contortions in the rain in order to get as wet as they possibly could.
Great series. Most birders I know typically ignore coots. They’re common and easily identified and little attention is paid to them. Big mistake, I think. By ignoring them they miss a lot and don’t really know their features. I once did a colored pencil painting of a coot, Two people asked me why I put a red spot on the forehead at the back of the bill. They didn’t believe it was on a coot because they had only ever given coots a quick look instead of seeing what the features really are. A black bird with a white bill is all they ever saw. And, of course, they missed all of the wonderful behaviors coots have.
I agree, Dan. They may be common in numbers but they’re far from common in their behaviors and physical features.
That’s an impressive series, Ron. Not easy to capture such detail (both feathers and water droplets) on a bathing black bird. Well done!
Thank you, Diane.
Having a good chuckle looking at this series! 😄 Amazing the contortions they can get into to get the job done….Much of the action would be WAY too fast for detail observation(fun to watch tho) – stopping the moment(s) gives a whole different perspective. The extreme color contrasts ARE a challenge.
“Much of the action would be WAY too fast for detail observation(fun to watch tho”
Judy, that’s a big part of the reason I enjoy bird photography so much, using fast shutter speeds to stop the action.
What a fun post. And glad that you are giving some attention to probably our number one most ignored lake resident. I like the last two photos best. I really enjoy watching birds of any kind bathing. Always enjoyable watching our backyard birds bathing. One of my neighbors has a fairly deep upright bird bath and she often has a Cooper’s Hawk taking long and very thorough baths that she says are hilarious to watch.
A couple inches of beautiful snow outside and much more coming today and tomorrow according to WeatherUnderground. Will do much good for our starving lakes and streams.
Everett, I have a heated bird bath out back and the birds love it. A few days ago a Northern Flicker almost splashed all of the water out if it. Great fun watching it.
We finally have snow here too. Not much in the valleys but the mountains have over a foot so far.