{"id":150555,"date":"2024-01-18T06:41:11","date_gmt":"2024-01-18T13:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=150555"},"modified":"2024-01-18T08:26:57","modified_gmt":"2024-01-18T15:26:57","slug":"having-fun-with-coots-on-very-thin-ice","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2024\/01\/18\/having-fun-with-coots-on-very-thin-ice\/","title":{"rendered":"Having Fun With Coots On Very Thin Ice"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two days ago I had a blast photographing American Coots attempting to negotiate very thin ice on a local pond. In order for the following photos to make much sense to my readers I need to describe the situation with the ice.<\/p>\n

There was basically an “island” of ice in the middle of the pond that pretty much divided the pond in two. There were coots on both sides of the ice and occasionally one of them would decide that it wanted to be on the other side of the ice. They never flew across the ice – instead they always chose to cross it on foot but coots don’t like being on top of the ice because they’re so vulnerable to predators there. Eagles, falcons, harriers and other hawks would love to pick a coot off the top of the ice where it can’t dive to escape, and coots know that. So when they’d cross the ice they would always run, as if the devil himself were chasing it.<\/p>\n

But the other problem that the coots faced was that the ice was almost paper-thin so they’d sometimes fall through it, especially at the edges. So they’d typically run across the middle of the ice but walk very slowly and carefully at the edges. It was obvious that they didn’t want to fall through the ice, especially while they were running full speed.<\/p>\n

Sometimes they were coming in my direction and other times they were running the opposite direction so some of these photos are butt shots, or nearly so. But I still think they’re interesting and fun.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This coot had already run across the ice toward me and was nearing its edge that you can see in front of ‘him’, so he slowed down to a very careful walk. Even with those huge feet to spread his weight out on the ice he knew he was in danger of falling through it, especially as he got close to its very edge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

One more step and his right foot is already beginning to bend the very thin ice at its edge.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

That step was all it took as his right foot began to go through the ice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Bet he fell slowly through the ice, probably exactly as he’d planned to or at least hoped for. Mission accomplished.<\/p>\n

But when ice is involved, things don’t always go that smoothly.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This coot had the opposite problem. He was trying to climb up onto the ice from the water so he could run across it but the ice was so thin it kept breaking in front of him.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here you can see that he’s broken off a small shelf of ice directly in front of him. That same thing kept happening to him so eventually he gave up, turned around, and went back to the open water.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

This is a different coot a short while later attempting to do the same thing. He kept trying to get his huge feet up on the ice without breaking it but…<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

he was having very little luck.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Here you can see a piece of broken, angled ice right in front of him and how thin it is. At this point he’d given up trying to get his feet up on the ice so that his weight would be supported. Instead, he was just plowing through the ice like an icebreaker as he tried to get to thicker ice.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

21 photos later he’d given up trying to climb up onto the ice using just his legs and feet, so he used his wings to pop up onto the ice and begin to run across it. He popped up so unexpectedly and so high I cut off both of his wings.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

But now he had about 75′ of ice to cross where he was vulnerable to predators so he really turned on his afterburners.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

At one point he nearly went ass over teakettle on the very slippery ice but he recovered and made it safely to the edge of the ice that we can see in the background. He had his back to me when he entered the water so I stopped taking photos.<\/p>\n

I took several other photo series of coots climbing up onto the ice and running across it but they’re very similar to these two so I’m not including any of those shots.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

At one point I made a stupid mistake, pushed the wrong button on my camera, and took some video without even knowing I’d done it. After much thought about whether I should or not, I’m including a link to that clip below but it needs some explanation before you watch it.<\/p>\n