American Coot with a dirty bill – Nikon D500, f7.1, 1/1600, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light
Yesterday morning was cloudy so I didn’t go out into the field but I did spend a few minutes in the afternoon at my local pond in the afternoon because it was mostly sunny then. The pond only has a little ice on it now thanks to several warm and sunnier days but that meant that most of the birds I wanted to photograph were way out on the pond instead of being close up.
An American Coot with a dirty bill wasn’t shy at all when it climbed out of the pond close enough for me to take portraits of it. Some photographers might have “cleaned” the bill up in post processing by using the clone brush to remove the bits of vegetation on the bill but that just isn’t the way I do things. If the bill is dirty, I leave the dirty bits there.
Nature isn’t perfect and I feel that should be shown in my images in order to be authentic. I was going to write a longer post about that topic this morning but I have been having connection issues again so that will have to wait until another time.
Life is good.
Mia
Click here to view more of my American Coot photos plus facts and information about this species.
THE FEATHERS LOOK LIKE A FUR COAT. GREAT SHOT.
Love those red eyes and the dirty bill!
Reality rules.
A dirty bill, to me, means that it is finding lots of vegetation. Great close up shot.
I agree that the bird was found with a dirty bill it should remain so. Natural state for birds looking for food. Thanks Mia!