Neat to see this species of coot. Looks just like ours except for the red knobs on the shield.
Are the feet green?
Very good exposure on a challenging bird.
Although angled away, the juvis face still shows well and works with the overall image. I might try to tease out a little more detail on the side of the adults face if you haven't done so already.
I could see a crop with a little less on the right and a bit more on the left.
I had a second so opened up the shadows on the face of the adult and bit on the chick. Used Color Efex Pro 4.0, detail extractor filter, painted in effect.
You could do a higher quality job on the raw file, but there def. is more detail in there!
Heard of an American Coot, first I have heard of and seen a Red-Knobbed Coot. Learn something new everyday. Thanks for sharing this one. Love the interaction you captured between the two of them. Exposure shows more detail in the blacks on the second post. Coots can be tough to expose. Also like the angle of the head pose on the adult, portrays a certain kind of mood.
Nice interaction capture, Pieter, and what a great looking coot! The repost makes it even stronger. Would love to see a portrait capture, to see those great features up-close. TFS!
Bill; Gary and Josh - many thanks for your feedback, much appreciated.
Brendan - Like your idea of a portrait, will look for an opportunity on next visit to Rietvlei.
Randy - your re-post is certainly an improvement, I did do some dodging on the head and neck area but without much sucess. Yes, it can do with a bit of cropping. Looks like Efex Pro is a good investment. In answer to your question -
"The feet and legs of the adult are greenish; head, neck and tail black, remainder of upper parts dark slaty grey. 2 red knobs on top of shield, large when breeding otherwise inconspicuous." (description from Roberts Birds of Southern Africa; Seventh Edition.)
Red-knobbed Coot and chick
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