{"id":57092,"date":"2018-03-06T06:01:21","date_gmt":"2018-03-06T13:01:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=57092"},"modified":"2018-03-06T06:01:21","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T13:01:21","slug":"a-lesser-scaup-and-more-coot-chases-from-yesterday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2018\/03\/06\/a-lesser-scaup-and-more-coot-chases-from-yesterday\/","title":{"rendered":"A Lesser Scaup and More Coot Chases From Yesterday"},"content":{"rendered":"

Plus a national embarrassment for Utah.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Yesterday I had more fun with coot chases. This was my first shot of the day and I got lucky with it. When these chases happen it’s very difficult to get both birds in the frame, especially when they’re running at right angles to you. This shot is full frame (uncropped) so I had no wiggle room at all but I caught them both in frame, in interesting poses and both birds are sharp enough.<\/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 + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

I was closer to this bird as it chased its intended victim (whose water trail we see at left).<\/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 + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

In the next shot in the series the water splashes of the leading coot are continuing to expand and get larger.<\/p>\n

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1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Three frames later the antagonist coot is giving up the chase as it settles back down into the water.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Almost all of the birds on the pond yesterday were coots except for this handsome male Lesser Scaup in breeding plumage who approached quite closely for a short period (until a couple of ladies with a small\u00a0dog showed up and scared it off).<\/p>\n

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1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Like many diving ducks scaups close their nictitating membranes just before their heads plunge into the water during a dive.<\/p>\n

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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n

Unlike many other birds their membrane is almost completely clear and transparent so they can see well underwater with it closed. Here we can still see the color of his eye clearly (with the membrane closed) even though we’re looking through water at it.<\/p>\n

Bad weather and poor light has mostly kept me home and chomping at the bit for weeks now but this morning it’s looking like we’re going to have a clear bright day so I’m hoping to head north in a quest for birds. Wish me luck because I need a breath of fresh air, in more ways than one…<\/p>\n

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Prepare yourself for a rant. If you don’t have the stomach for it you might want to stop reading here.<\/p>\n

Utah State Representative Mike Noel, R-Kanab (Kanab is a beautiful little town in a spectacular setting but it produces more than its fair share of right-wing crazies),\u00a0has proposed a bill that would\u00a0rename the National Parks Highway in southern Utah the Donald J. Trump Utah National Parks Highway in “recognition of Trump’s impact on rural Utah and public lands”.\u00a0Yesterday that bill (HB481<\/a>)\u00a0cleared committee on a vote of 9-2 and appears to be on a fast track to passing.<\/p>\n

Typically I’m slow to anger but this bill (and the Utah State Legislature in general) really pisses me off! It’s divisive and an affront to any reasonable person for a variety of reasons that I won’t even get into\u00a0here.<\/p>\n

I predict a resurgence of “monkey-wrenching”. Just repairing vandalism (perhaps in this case more appropriately called highway improvement) to the hundreds of expensive highway signs bearing Trump’s name in such\u00a0glorious natural areas will cost the state a fortune and many folks will refuse to visit the area because of them.\u00a0George Hayduke, Seldom-Seen Smith,\u00a0Doc Jarvis and Bonnie Abzug will likely make a comeback (if you don’t know my reference here see Edward Abbey’s “Monkey Wrench Gang<\/a>). Personally and for a variety of reasons I want to be Hayduke and later today I plan on digging out my two old “Hayduke Lives” T-shirts.<\/p>\n

Living in conservative Utah drives me nuts but Senate Democrat Jim Dabakis has vowed to propose an amendment to name the highway\u2019s frontage road\u00a0the “Stormy Daniels Rampway”.<\/p>\n

Dabakis helps to keep me (relatively) sane. I just wish he\u00a0weren’t retiring at the end of this legislative session.<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n