Misty American Coot

American Coot in a morning mist – Nikon D500, tripod mounted, f7.1, 1/5000, ISO 500, Nikkor 500mm VR with 1.4x TC, natural light

Yesterday morning I photographed birds at my local pond in freezing temps and this American Coot in a morning mist was one of my favorite images that I took. I took a lot of high quality images of other birds with the morning sun over my shoulder which meant those photos were all nicely lit. I had ducks, gulls, geese, coots and grebes in front of me on the water and in the air.

When I turned around to look at something behind me I saw the steam fog coming off of the water it created a mist that surrounded a single American Coot. I knew I had to take photos of it so I swung my camera around on my tripod and started to take images of the coot in the steamy fog. As I took photos of the coot in the mist I knew they were going to turn out precisely the way that I wanted them to and they did.

I love it when things work out just right.

I’ll share photos of the other birds I photographed in the frigid temps yesterday soon but for today this simple coot image was first in line.

Life is good.

Mia

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