American Coots are plump chicken-like birds with dark to black bodies, red eyes, white bills with a dark ring, and long greenish yellow legs with long toes.
Typically I have a personal rule about having eye contact with my subject and I also want a catch light but to get this coot photo I had to break my own bird photography rules.
This adult American Coot may look like it is screaming but in reality it is simply calling out because another bird got close to it next to the shoreline of a small pond.
When I notice an American Coot exhibiting patrolling behavior I will often aim my lens at them because there could possibly be a chase or fight within seconds.
When the American Coots come close to me I am also able to take portraits of them that show their red eyes and their ivory colored bills with their reddish-brown frontal shields.
I especially enjoy watching American Coots in winter when they try to use their large greenish feet to walk on ice because that can be rather comical and I love to laugh.
May is a time of renewal at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge and as the marsh begins to green up the migrant birds return and along with the year round residents their songs and calls can be heard over the wetlands.
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.
At home when I could see the photos I had taken on a much larger screen I nearly choked on my laughter when I saw this image of the coot vigorously shaking its food
This photo of a resting Great Blue Heron with American Coots was taken yesterday afternoon when the sun was shining on the same shoreline of my local pond as one of the photos I shared here on my blog yesterday.
Neither of these images will knock anyone's socks off but for me they show these coots and geese in the snow storm and the harsh conditions they live in, just birds being birds.
I kept hoping that this running American Coot would become airborne but my hopes were dashed because it stopped short of taking flight.
I spent some time at one of the local ponds yesterday afternoon and came home with photos that made me smile and for a little while I forgot about the long hours I spent getting skunked on the road earlier in the day.
I photographed this American Coot in February when parts of my local pond were frozen which caused a restriction in the space where the coots, ducks, geese and grebes could feed and there were many territorial squabbles to photograph.
Perhaps I am easy to please but I got a real kick out of photographing this American Coot while it bathed, shook and fluffed on the pond close to home.
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 opted to leave my teleconverter on while photographing this bathing American Coot
While observing American Coots I can see that they are feisty, pugnacious and aggressive in their behaviors and they don't seem to take any guff from each other.
There were birds that I photographed including this Yellow-rumped Warbler who perched out in the open with the fall colors of curly docks in the background.
I've written before that I love American Coots and I guess that will never change, I will stop for coots any time I see them, I will photograph them and enjoy their antics.
People usually think of American Coot chicks as either cute or ugly, I'm in the cute camp when it comes to these chicks.
Why? Because the image is never as important as the well being and safety of my subject, especially when it comes to nests and chicks.
It was my photos of a Double-crested Cormorant and American Coot in the snow storm that touched me the most even though both birds are small in the frame.
Common Gallinules and American Coots are both from the Rallidae family and there are some similarities in their appearance, for instance both have a triangular bill with a frontal shield at the top.
American Coots are quarrelsome birds and they are quick to give chase whether it is over food or territory and they will fight, sometimes even to death, for both.
Early in January I photographed an American Coot being chased by two Mallards for the food it carried in its bill.
When the birds settled back down on the pond this American Coot walked up onto the shore with the open water behind it and I couldn't resist taking portraits of it.
The American Coot seemed to turn its head a few times to see if it was still being chased and when it saw that it was it it kept scooting across the surface of the pond and always kept its bill clamped down on its food.
Winter is a great time to photograph these coots close to home because they seem more approachable plus the water picks up wonderful reflections from the snow on the ground at the edge of the pond.
American Coots have interesting behaviors that I like to try to capture, for instance the way they run across the surface of the water during territorial chases.
About two weeks ago I photographed this American Coot running on water at Farmington Bay WMA.