![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/american-coot-3489-ron-dudley.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA goofy pose when combined with outrageous-looking body parts makes me smile, especially when the subject\u00a0is an American Coot. I photographed this one two days ago at Bear River MBR.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc. not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n The bird had been preening atop an island perch when it suddenly did an enthusiastic wing flap. But this time it included a weird little vertical\u00a0hop as it did so and that gave me a good look at\u00a0those\u00a0strange toes\u00a0on its right foot. Coot toes have distinctive lateral lobes (rather than webs) that are indented at each\u00a0toe segment and their greenish\u00a0color, black banding and large size\u00a0only add to their strange look.<\/p>\n This pose just tickles my funny bone and I was pleased to get it in a mostly uncluttered setting. The bird could be slightly sharper but I think it’s acceptable as is.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Since the subject of this post is a coot I decided to include a bonus image of another coot\u00a0this morning.\u00a0I wasn’t very close to this\u00a0one so the image has been cropped significantly but it shows something I don’t\u00a0often see and rarely photograph – a coot in full flight at a relatively high elevation.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/8000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + 1.4 tc. not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n Coots don’t fly very often, partly because their usual method of escape is diving or swimming.\u00a0\u00a0When they do fly\u00a0it’s usually low over the water after a long run on top of the water (called “spattering”) to become airborne.\u00a0A couple of weeks ago at Farmington I caught this one flying much higher than usual. It even gave me a nice bank and wing position so I sure wish I’d been closer.<\/p>\n It’s my belief that we may see more coots in flight than we think we do – it’s just that we often don’t recognize them in the air. One way to help ID them in flight is to look for the distinctive angle of their feet and bill. In flight that white bill points down and the stretched out legs and toes point slightly up.<\/p>\n These images convince me once again that I ignore coots more often than I should. I hope I remember the lesson this time.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" A goofy pose when combined with outrageous-looking body parts makes me smile, especially when the subject is an American Coot.<\/p>\n![\"american](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/11\/american-coot-1975-ron-dudley.jpg\")
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