Ice-walking American Coot - 15 Feb 2007
1500 Hrs. A drive down to the foot of Clinton Rd yielded a single American Coot, but it was sitting on the ice near shore. As I sat in the car w/ the 400mm f/5.6 and 1.4TC I was able to shoot several frames in both cloud cover and in sunlight. When the sun shone through the clouds for a moment the Coot’s bright red eye could be seen. Otherwise it appeared black.
After a few moments its hobbled to its feet and ran across the ice, stumbling, sitting for a few moments, then getting up to run some more. After a bit it disappeared under the docks.
Wyandotte Boat Ramp, Wayne, Michigan, US
Feb 15, 2007 3:00 PM - 3:15 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
Checklist Comments: Ptly cloudy.
1 species
American Coot (Fulica americana) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
I then drove down to Ecorse Park and found a single Great Black-backed Gull sitting on the ice in front of Mud Island.
A female Common Merganser floated by, giving me a couple fair shots.
I tried to get a few flight shots of the GBBG but could only manage a couple decent images.
Just then a male Common Goldeneye swam out from under me, and I tried to get some pics of it. Images were closeup but a bit soft due to the cloudy weather and slow shutter speeds. Still trying to get a sharp closeup of these guys!
I then noticed a male, basic plumaged, Ruddy Duck floating downstream toward me. I ducked behind the railing and popped up just in time to get some swim-by shots. I noticed he had a portion of his bill damaged. Poor thing looks painful.
I then saw a female Greater Scaup swimming upstream, so I ducked down and waited for her to swim by. She obliged with a couple closeup images before swimming back out to open water.
A Red-tailed Hawk then lifted off from the trees across the river and soared overhead briefly before disappearing.
My day ended with several pics of the GBBG trying to swallow a large fish with little luck.
Feb 15, 2007 3:30 PM - 4:00 PM
Protocol: Traveling
0.1 mile(s)
6 species
Greater Scaup (Aythya marila) 1
Common Goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) 1
Common Merganser (Mergus merganser) 1
Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis) 1
Great Black-backed Gull (Larus marinus) 1
Red-tailed Hawk (Buteo jamaicensis) 1
View this checklist online at https://ebird.org/checklist/S1
This report was generated automatically by eBird v3 (https://ebird.org/home)
