Sjoerd That’s a great pic… What’s the difference… ? We have a blue heron that nests in a tree by the river down in the canyon. I never got a pic of him cause I was usually on horseback riding thru the trails from our home down thru the canyon to the river. Every time we would come to a certain spot on the trail by the river my horse would stop, stand still in place and wait for the blue heron to fly up outta the tree. Where as before the horse wait spot started…the heron would fly up outta of the tree with no warning and would scare the daylights outta my horse then the horse startled would jump strait up like a cat and buck. I think I prefer the wait spot compared to holding on to a bucking bronco.
Herons got longer legs and beaks than Coots. We have lots of Herons down here but no Coots. Provided you don't count annoying old men, that is !!I
My Quarterhorse used to be afraid of chickens. So, I let my chickens in his paddock every day, then the guineas then two peacocks moved in for a few weeks, hanging out with the chickens and Guineas. (Not my Peacocks either). After he got used to that, he never spooked at birds again. Even a Wild Turkey flying out of a tree right over his head didn't raise an eyebrow !! Of course, a Guinea flying up and landing on his butt can be a very effective desensitization agent !! I
The Coots definition got a chuckle . Haven’t heard that expression in years. Horse training with scary birds comes in handy when desensitizing horses.
Pac—too bad the coot is just out of sight to the right. It was defending her two chicks. The little coots are black with an unmissable white beek. Further, Annie explained it well. That made me chuckle too.
