An Eurasian coot on the nest, with offspring. I counted eight young birds, probably 2 days old. I think there is beauty in their ugliness 
About 10 days later, all 8 were still alive. Great parents!
Do you prefer a tighter crop?
Any other comments welcome as well.
Pentax K3 Mk. iii, Sigma 4/100-300mm @216mm with 1.4TC, ISO3200, f/5.6, 1/2000 sec.
A fine environmental image, Han. It looks like the light was rather harsh so some of the brighter areas seem blown, but the youngsters make up for it.
This is a very pleasing image. The red in the chick’s heads and the green water make for nice contrasting colors. I like the crop as is, showing a nice environment. I like the pose of the mother, looking at the chick.
Nice image oft eh Coot’s nest and little ones . I would tighten the crop a bit though.
Each bird is reflected so well. I like how the parent is looking on proudly. I also think the crop is OK, especially to show off the reflections. But maybe just a bit cropped from the right?
Thank you, @Dennis_Plank , @Stephen_Stanton , @Allen_Brooks and @Mike_Friel for your comments.
@Dennis_Plank : yes, there was direct sunlight and the brighter areas needed some recovery, but are still worse than with a bit less exposure.
I’ll play with different crops, trying to keep the balance in the image.
Hi Han, a terrific image showing the chicks and nesting behaviors so well. Love seeing the chicks both in and out of the nest with the parent. I like the reflection also. I could see cropping a bit more off the right. Maybe try burning down the bright part of the stick on the right as well.
