American Coot

Cantankerous Coots /  by Kitundu

American Coots are nothing if not full of character with their grunting calls, territorialistic temperament, dinosaur feet, and determination to dive - plump and buoyant as they are.

When you see this agressive stance you know a chase is imminent.

And away they go...

back and forth across the lake. They never seem to tire.

But eventually, after re-establishing the hierarchy, they settle down and get back to feeding.

Searching the lake floor for food.

Diving to the bottom takes more commitment.

Finding the surface again is easy... just stop what you are doing and a second later you pop back into the world above.

Oh the rarest of sightings... a Coot in actual flight. I think I might have hallucinated this right into the camera.