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Eurasian Coot

Eurasian Coot (Image ID 21141)
Photographed byCon Boekel on Sat 9th Jul, 2016 and uploaded on Wed 20th Jul, 2016 .
Resolution1400x450
Viewed792
ID21141
CommentOn some larger waters (and while grazing on land) at this time of the year the Coot appear to be able to move around in flocks without much overt aggression. On Crace Pond, which is small and reasonably narrow, dominant birds appear to have staked out a territory. You can generally tell that trouble is brewing when a dominant bird lowers and stretches its neck along the water until its beak is nearly touching the water. When this is combined with a power swim and the bird heads in the direction of its target bird, trouble generally follows...
...along with a photographic challenge!

A useful hint is to keep an eye on the bird that is about to be charged and to focus ahead of the bird so that it runs/flies into the focus point.

As an incidental comment to vindicate the BLP photography ethics on feeding, when people do feed the Coot, they congregate in a very small and crowded area. Then there is a lot of aggression between individuals
EquipmentCanon 5D Mk 111
Canon EF 500mm 1:4 L IS 11 USM
Velbon tripod
f/8
1/4000 sec
ISO-1600
0 step
500 mm
Processed using first DPP 4 and then PSE 13
LocationCrace Pond, Australian Capital Territory
Keywordsadult
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