Cantankerous Coots
American Coots are nothing if not full of character with their grunting calls, territorialistic temperament, dinosaur feet, and determination to dive – plump and buoyant as they are.
When you see this agressive stance you know a chase is imminent.
And away they go…
back and forth across the lake. They never seem to tire.
But eventually, after re-establishing the hierarchy, they settle down and get back to feeding.
Searching the lake floor for food.
Diving to the bottom takes more commitment.
Finding the surface again is easy… just stop what you are doing and a second later you pop back into the world above.
Oh the rarest of sightings… a Coot in actual flight. I think I might have hallucinated this right into the camera.
Coots make me smile. So do your posts. Really like the detail on the legs, very dinosaur looking. Their behaviour reminds me of chickens.
April 19, 2012 at 6:51 am
Coots are hard to photograph, simply because of their dark color. You done well.
April 19, 2012 at 1:52 pm
nice snaps of wild nature
April 19, 2012 at 9:18 pm
wow lovely photos
April 20, 2012 at 2:01 am
Beautiful post.
April 20, 2012 at 3:35 am
Gorgeous shots – I love coots, you hit it right on with the dinosaur feet and determination to dive in the face of buoyancy. Thanks for sharing!
April 22, 2012 at 11:52 pm