Man caught footage of astonishing sight on frozen lake while filming a sunset with his drone

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A drone captured this coyote maneuvering over an icy Lake Michigan on February 23.

A coyote trotting across an iced-over body of water isn’t something most people see every day, which makes a recent drone video capturing the occurrence on Lake Michigan all the more unique.

Keenan May, who grew up in Leelanau County, Michigan, and is currently spending time there with his wife Kristen on paternity leave, is the man behind the astonishing footage.

The video, which May's father Paul posted on his YouTube account, shows the drone slowly passing over an almost completely frozen Lake Michigan as the coyote, appearing at times as a tiny and dark moving line from up above, races across it.

May, 35, initially intended to bring his drone out to capture the incredible ice formations on the lake as the sun went down around 6:30 p.m. on Feb. 23, he told AccuWeather. “Sunsets have been far and few lately due to all the cloud cover!” he said.

It was around sunset that he spotted the coyote running atop the ice across the vast lake. The sight was surprising, May said, as he and his family rarely see coyotes out in the open.

A drone captured this coyote maneuvering over an icy Lake Michigan on Feb. 23, 2019. (Keenan May)

“Having spent over 20 years in Leelanau and a lot of my time outdoors, I’ve only seen them a handful of times,” he said, noting that it’s also quite rare to see coyotes that exposed during the daylight hours.

“I’ve seen them on the beach at night before, but never before sundown,” he added. “It was absolutely the right time, right place.”

The coyote appeared to be trotting down the beach far out on the ice paddies looking for food – possibly shore birds, May told AccuWeather.

“He simply passed by us, and we watched him for several minutes,” May said. “He never stopped for more than a minute.”

While May only takes his drone out to film cool nature shots every couple of months when he finds a good opportunity, he said the coyote footage is “definitely up there” in terms of the most interesting subjects he’s captured.

“The Lake Michigan shoreline isn’t always this iced over, some years can see little to no ice,” he said. “This, matched with the coyote who is hundreds of yards offshore along the other edge of ice, is pretty amazing.”

May has captured other stunning videos of ice formations on Lake Michigan. To see more, click here.