💚 80 percent of coot chicks die in the first year after birth. Of the young that do survive, only half survive the following year. - 80 procent van de meerkoetkuikens sterft in het eerste jaar na de geboorte. Van de jongen die het wel redden, overleeft slechts de helft het daaropvolgende jaar 💚.

#meerkoet #coot #nature #natuur #natuurfotografie #naturephotography #dortherbos

het jonge spul !
#meerkoet #zwaan #natuurfotografie #hettwiske #ewouddebeeldvangeropflickr #ewouddebeeldvanger #zaanstreek

Lekker zwemmen

#meerkoet #hettwiske #ilpendam #willemswebstek

#ooievaar
#meerkoet
#fuut
#lepelaar

Meerkoet aan de waterkant #meerkoetje #meerkoet #watervogel

#Fight club? Coot fu fighting?
These two Eurasian Coots were going at each other this morning in #Bloeidaal. Lots of splashing and squeaking. Eventually the fight broke up and one had to retreat.
🪶 #Birds #Birdphotography #TerritorialDispute #DutchNature #coot #meerkoet

🇳🇱 Goedenacht, slaap zacht. #Meerkoet #InHetPark
🇩🇪 Gute Nacht und schöne Träume. #Bläshuhn
🇬🇧 Good night, sleep tight. #EurasianCoot
🇨🇿 Dobrou noc a hezké sny. #LyskaČerná
#FulicaAtra

WENN DU LANGE IN EINEN ABGRUND BLICKST, BLICKT DER ABGRUND AUCH IN DICH HINEIN
#Amsterdam #SilentSunday #meerkoet #EurasianCoot

Dark waters, white beak, red eye.

At Park Sonsbeek in Arnhem, I spotted something white moving on the dark pond surface. For a second I thought, “what is that?” — and then it hit me. A coot! An Eurasian Coot (Fulica atra, Dutch: Meerkoet). These little water birds always look like they’re in formal wear — black suit, white tie, red eyes, and serious attitude.

The water here was unusually dark, absorbing almost all light. My camera’s metering system had no idea what to do with it and kept pushing the ISO sky-high. So I switched to full manual mode: shutter at 1/250s, aperture f/7.1, ISO locked at 2500. The Canon 5D Mark IV with the Sigma 100–400mm lens handled it beautifully. No flashy post-processing here — just careful exposure control and a bit of patience.

I love how the black feathers blend nearly invisibly into the dark water, leaving only that bright beak and red eye cutting through the scene. It’s one of those moments where light, contrast, and instinct all meet. What a hoot… or should I say, what a coot!

Photography, after all, is just another way of studying light and life.

#EurasianCoot #FulicaAtra #Meerkoet #BirdPhotography #NaturePhotography #WildlifePhotography #Canon5DMarkIV #Sigma100400 #BirdsOfEurope #DutchNature #LowLightPhotography #ManualMode #ExposureControl #NaturalLight #WildlifeObservation #UrbanWildlife #DarkWater #PhotographyAndScience #LightAndLife #FieldPhotography #OpticsAndArt #PhotographyEducation #NatureDetails #ParkSonsbeek #ArnhemPhotography #BirdLovers #PhotographersLife #WildBirds #ScientificPhotography #NatureStudy #CanonPhotography #SigmaArtLens #WildlifeArt #LearningByObserving #AvianBeauty #ContrastAndLight #PhotographyJourney #NatureThroughTheLens #StoryThroughLight #ByMaikeldeBakker