Two American Coots involved in a chaseTwo American Coots involved in a chase – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

The last birds I photographed in 2017 were American Coots and some of the first birds I took photos of in 2018 were also coots. I was excited to go out to photograph birds yesterday morning but the radar/satellite indicated clouds so I opted to not go out photographing in the morning.

Instead I made my yearly trek to Best Buy to purchase a new external portable hard drive for 2018. I don’t store the photos I take on the internal drive of my computer, I store them on the small portable hard drives by the year and back them up to a larger external drive.

Anyway, it was after 10 am when I went out the door to go to get the hard drive and the first bird I saw and heard for 2018 was a Black-billed Magpie. I’m happy it was a corvid, they fascinate me.

An aggressive American Coot in a chaseAn aggressive American Coot in a chase – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I could have gone photographing in the morning, the clouds the radar/satellite showed over the Salt Lake Valley weren’t as bad as indicated and they cleared up rather quickly, in fact it turned out to be a beautiful morning. I went to the local pond later in the afternoon to take photos of the birds there and the busiest birds plus the most cantankerous birds were American Coots. The coots squabbled, they stalked each other, they chased and they fought. Coots can be entertaining.

American Coot chasing another coot out of its territoryAmerican Coot chasing another coot out of its territory – Nikon D500, f6.3, 1/1000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

I guess I could wish that the first bird I photographed in 2018 was a glorious Bald Eagle, a stooping Peregrine Falcon, a flock of Tundra Swans flying overhead or a Great Horned Owl with prey but in all honesty I love coots just as much as I do those birds.

In my mind a bird is a bird is a bird.

Life is good.

Mia

Click here to view more of my American Coot photos plus facts and information about this species.