One of these combatants could give any human prize fighter a lesson on how to land back-to-back haymakers.
- Last night I hit the “Publish” button when I shouldn’t have so this post was published when it wasn’t ready. I had no choice but to disable the post so the email link subscribers received didn’t work. Apologies.
Yesterday afternoon at a local pond I had a blast with pugilistic American Coots. The pond had a very thin layer of ice on the surface interspersed with small patches of open water. The ice was so thin that ducks would often break through it with only their own weight.
Just before the extended fight broke out the sun went behind thick clouds so the lighting was poor, especially for birds that are almost black. But the photos are plenty good enough to document the fight.
It all began when I spotted this coot racing toward me from the far side of the pond. ‘He’ was running on the thin ice fast enough that when he hit the small patch of open water at upper left he just skimmed over the top of it which produced the big splash we see behind him.
In this shot he’s back on the ice but it appears to me that his right foot might be beginning to break through the ice again.
His intended destination was two other coots very close to me and a major brouhaha broke out as soon as he arrived. At this point I have no idea which of the three coots in the photo came running in but it doesn’t really matter.
This shot needs rotation but I didn’t do it because doing so would make me lose too much of the coot on the right.
Normally I don’t like to name wild birds but since I’m the play by play announcer for this fight I’m going to assign them names to help me tell the story. The bird in the middle, the one getting the worst of the fight at this point, will be Joe while the coot on the far right will be Muhammad.
The bird on the left apparently has bone spurs in his feet so he did everything possible to avoid the fight. I’m going to call him DJ.
When coots fight their weapon of choice is their huge, bizarre-looking lobed feet.
Typically they lay on their backs in the water and strike out with them. Here Muhammad is about to throw a…
sweeping right hook to Joe’s head. In the poor light I didn’t have enough shutter speed to get that foot sharp but with the water trail it’s leaving behind you get the idea.
For this series I was using my backup camera with my ‘baby lens’ attached because I was so close to the birds. Unbeknownst to me I had a very slow memory card in that camera so I missed the results of this foot blow when my buffer filled up.
But a split second later Muhammad threw another roundhouse with his other foot and that blow had disastrous results for Joe.
It knocked him flat down onto the water.
Muhammad quickly moved in to finish the job, forcing Joe…
almost completely underwater.
For the rest of these photos DJ is out of frame to the left but he’s still very close and fascinated by all the excitement.
Muhammad appears to be asking Joe if he’s ready to give up.
But Joe recovered and the fight continued, for a very long time. I took way too many photos of the brawl to include any more of them today but I’ll likely post more of them sometime in the future.
Beginning this time of year the pugilistic tendencies of coots make them a favorite photo subject of mine. These photos show why.
Ron
Note to photographers: Most of these photos were taken at or near 1/1600 – 1/2000, f/5.6, ISO 500, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon 100-400 lens
Great shots great story. Thanks for sharing. I typically pass up coot photo ops other than when they are raising babies. Will pay closer attention in the future. Thanks too for the settings info.
Jim, this time I posted those camera settings from memory. I think (hope) they’re correct.
NP. Looked like a good starting point at least. Blessings!
We have an abundance of Canadian Geese here in Minnesota. “Sky Carp” would be an appropriate nickname for these things. They’re absolutely everywhere. Because of this I generally won’t shoot them. They do make great subject matter for panning practice and camera settings however. As do Ducks.
Loved that you named them ❗️ I’m with DJ… I’ll sit ringside 😁 Great series.
Thanks, Diana.
In the third image, at first glance I thought the coot in the middle of the skirmish had a clear eye when it’s actually a perfectly placed water droplet.
That must’ve been quite the sight to see! Thanks for sharing such riveting wildlife behavior!
I noticed that ‘glass eye’ too, Amy.
I photographed a similar coot battle this week too… I didn’t know they fought like this and the dozens of clear and sharpphotos I have will forever be favorites.
Good for you, Mary.
Coots are SO. damn. interesting!!!! Can’t wait for the next installment!
It’ll probably come, Marty. Some time…
I’ve seen as many as 80 or more coots all gathered together peacefully. And just as often, I’ve seen long, vicious fights just like this one. I usually don’t see any reason for the fight other than that’s just what coots do. I’ve also seen coots turn on and even drown chicks. They are fascinating birds but so often ignored. Too many birders see them but completely ignore them because “it’s just a coot.” They, and some other birds share the trait of being very common. People all too often ignore common birds and thus miss many finer details and behaviors. Coots may be common but they are always worth looking at.
Dan, I once saw a raft of what must have been 200-300 coots (maybe even more) at Fish Springs NWR. They were on a narrow canal and when they decided they wanted to get past me they had to come very close to me to get by. At the last second every last one of them rose up and simultaneously ran across the water so they didn’t have to be close to me for long. The hubbub, the noise and the splashing water were VERY impressive.
Well, that was entertaining! Thanks
Good!
And they can’t even blame Covid for being short tempered !
Nope, they can’t.. I believe that testosterone was the cause of this fight.
I will say again (as I did last night when I saw the accidental post and a couple of pictures) — yikes! And can we be sure it wasn’t DJ who incited this fight by taunting Ali from a distance, and then dove under for a few moments so Joe was left to take all the hits? I just hope no permanent damage done to Joe or Ali. DJ, I’m certain, will get his someday.
Chris, yours was the only comment that was made quickly enough to show up before I disabled the post. You were fast!
I was working on my laptop, email dings me when it comes in so I had to look. Was pretty sure it was (dare I say) operator error but I couldn’t resist.
Great shots! Appreciated the play-by-play. Weird feet.
Weird feet indeed. Thanks, Kathryn.
Great capture. I love watching these fights, they are so fast about the only way to see what happens is with taking photos. To me the second to last photo reminds me of Clint Eastwood as Dirty Harry. “You want more punk?” I always was a Eastwood fan.
It reminded me of Eastwood too, April. But it was the “Make my day” scene.
I liked Clint for years, especially when he played Rowdy on Rawhide. But his politics have made me less fond of him since then.
Exciting photos and description of the skirmish. The Common Moor– oops Gallinules fight this way as well. The female often swims nearby and acts as if not interested.
Thank you, Kenneth.
Apparently Coots are not the only creatures getting feisty these days. Bone spurs, indeed!
“Bone spurs, indeed!”
What else could it be, Sallie. 🙂
Most interesting! Such intensity fighting! I really like the second to last photo…’Dominance & Submission’…perhaps until the rematch! You definitely were in the right place at the right time!
Kathy, not to worry. Ol’ Joe redeemed himself later in the fight.
So fun and action packed! VERY happy this was not a fight to the death, thought Ali might drown Joe. Love the word of the day “pugilistic.” Had to look it up – perfect for this prize fighter blog!!
Thanks, Kathleen. I’ve always enjoyed that word so I use it fairly often when I think it’s appropriate.
This was hysterical! I loved it. I might have assigned politically-inspired names in my head. (Innocent look #57854)
Arwen, these days it’s hard to avoid assigning names like that.
Laughing out loud and had to explain to my husband. Such strange feet. Also, bone spurs! 🤣
Thank you, Cathy.
Wow! That was some fight! Never seen coots fight before – don’t tend to have them on the creek. Their feet are amazing and definitely a formidable weapon against another coot! Great series!
76 mph wind gust in GF yesterday – moving dirt again……😒 Lots of damage around the state…..
Judy, I’m surprised by how many folks say they’ve never seen coots fighting. Pugilism is hard-wired into their brains so I often see them fighting.
Hang on to your vehicle doors when you open them in that wind. I remember my mom bursting into tears once because the wind was blowing so hard she was afraid the door would be damaged if she opened it.
Pretty fun for you and your posse–not so much for poor Joe. I loved your
( literal ) “blow-by-blow” narration—chuckles at 6 AM– a rare treat !
Glad you enjoyed it, Kris. I never know for sure how far to go with my ‘narration’…
The narration adds so much to the images. The play-by-play was superb! Well done, as usual, Ron.
Great series Ron! It made my day. What could be better than watching a “Coot Fight”!
Gail, for me the only thing better than watching them fight is photographing them fighting.
I know they were deadly serious, but it was oh so entertaining to watch in these difficult times.
Ali yelled at Frazier, “You’re skating on thin ice coming over here after me.” I’m laughing as I watch, but of course not funny to them. I sure would not want to get hit in the face with one of those huge feet. I see Coots at all our lakes always, but have never seen a battle like this. Good job by our Feathered Photographer.
Everett, this is the time of year when coots begin to get extra feisty. Watch for it and you might get lucky.
I’ve seen this a couple of times, and I was sure a bird was going to get killed. That didn’t happen, but the victor was clear when it ended. This is a fabulous series of photos.
Thanks, Shoreacres. Coot fights can be truly vicious.
Assault and Battery Charges are definitely Pending…
🙂