“Instructions for living a life: Pay attention. Be astonished. Tell about it.” - Mary Oliver
Today’s post is all about one bird. One frozen little water chicken with giant, neon green dinosaur feet. I’m talking of course about a cootie friend! (American Coot) One particular cootie friend who walked the white carpet of frozen ice right in front of me for his glamour shots on a sub-zero day last week.
Here he comes, the lone little cootie in a pond full of ducks. He wants to join the party in the other pond, he’s tired of being all alone over here.
They say water rolls off a duck’s back but apparently it freezes on a coot’s back when it’s this cold.
Hi buddy!
“I think I can, I think I can, I think I can…”
Looking stealthy as he climbs out of the water. LOOK AT THOSE FEET!
The cootie strut - I’m imagining the song, “Walk like an Egyptian”, which is kind of what a cootie walk looks like!
Showing off his feet with those long toenails - good for gripping the ice perhaps?
Hello Ms. photographer, you’re getting my good side right?
And my feet - right? Let me hold one up for you. These feet tell you I am NOT a duck - no webbing!
Last chance, I’m heading for the other pond.
Look how dainty I can be.
Walking on ice is no big deal.
See how I strut!
One more stretch…and then I will disappear.
(This is where I admit that I missed the dive into the water, it was out of focus!)
One last shot with different light - this would be his glamour shot I think.
I hope you have enjoyed this walk across the ice with my little coot friend. I could also title this post, “how I entertain myself during a long, foggy week”! Take good care friends!
PS - this is not the first time I have written about my love of coots. Here’s a post from 2022 about these sweet little birds:
Those feet!! So cool!
What a sweet little friend. But that ice makes me cold.