An American Coot watches me closely from atop its nest. I couldn't see if there were eggs, present, but a typical clutch would be 8-12. I've never seen that many young in one place, though, so the attrition rate must be very high.
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2015 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: American Coot Fulica americana wildlife bird Rallidae nesting nest breeding wetland pond water wild prairie Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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I'm as guilty as anyone. Ever since the day in the 1980s when, walking with Pam in Stanley Park, we saw an American Coot eating some Canada Goose poop, my opinion of them has relegated them to the echelons of "least desirable" birds to photograph.
It isn't quite fair. These plump, black "mud hens" with crazy red eyes and enormous green feet, related to the rails but much bolder, are comical if not quite attractive. And they're prolific! Drive through the prairie pothole regions of Saskatchewan in summer and you will see thousands of them in the ponds and marshes. As a prey species, they provide food for hawks, owls, and even occasionally a lucky coyote. They breed prolifically. The wetlands would not the the same without them.
Photographed near Val Marie, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2018 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: American Coot Fulica americana wildlife bird Rallidae water blue wetland pond wild prairie Val Marie Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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It isn't a good shot; the light is too harsh, the contrast too jarring. But this is the first Sora to venture out in front of my lens, and only the second I've ever seen (the other was in the Everglades ten years ago). This one called from the marshy thicket repeatedly, and finally showed itself. They have a reputation of being shy and elusive, so I felt lucky. Now if only I can find one in decent light...
Frenchman River Valley, Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan.
Don't use this image on websites, blogs or other media without explicit permission.
© James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Sora Porzana carolina wildlife bird rail chickenlike marsh marshy wetland wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada
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Still in the little wetland (same place as yesterday's godwit), where a cattail marsh offers some concealment for a bird that insists on hiding. I first glimpsed a Sora in Florida's Everglades, when it darted from cover and disappeared as quickly - before I could gasp, turn, and focus.
The Sora is North America's most widely distributed rail; it is found from Mexico to Alaska, from California to Newfoundland, and everywhere between. Utah? Check. Yukon and Northwest Territories? Check. "The most confiding of the rails", says one of my bird guides. Confiding? I assume they mean trusting, as opposed to whispering secrets.
This photo is six years old; with the evaporation of our wetlands, I'm not likely to see them in the national park unless a wet cycle returns while I am still alive and mobile. I am grateful for past photo ops with them. I'm even grateful for the butt shots. This Sora should be on stage! Well, in a way, it is.
Photographed in Grasslands National Park, Saskatchewan (Canada). Don't use this image on websites, blogs, or other media without explicit permission ©2015 James R. Page - all rights reserved.
Tags: Sora Porzana carolina wildlife bird rail marsh bird butt shot vertical wetland pond cattail marsh shy elusive secretive beautiful wild prairie Grasslands National Park Saskatchewan Canada copyrighted James R. Page
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Tags: American Coot Fulica americana wildlife bird wetland wild nature Esquimalt Lagoon Victoria Vancouver Island BC British Columbia Canada
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