Posts in Category: duck
Maine! Hooded Mergansers
Hooded Merganser: York County, Maine, USA, November 2023 — The winter ducks are coming in. Yesterday I posted a Red-throated Loon from the mouth of one of our rivers, and today we feature these two male Hooded Mergansers. They had one female with them. Hoodies are generally seen in pairs or small flocks and prefer still waters, like those of this tidal creek. OM-Systems OM-1 with ED 100-400mm zoom at 800mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Photomator.
India! Indian Spot Billed Duck
Indian Spot Billed Duck: Sultanpur National Park, Rajasthan, India, March 2023 — We were to see Spot Billed Duck in almost every open patch of water larger than a village tank every where we went in Rajasthan. (And I think they only avoided the tanks because they were usually clogged with floating plastic bottles.) Certainly the most common duck in Rajasthan. A really a beautiful bird! This one came close enough so that I could pretty much clean the murk out of the image and present the bird as it might have appeared on a somewhat clearer day. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Pixelmator Pro and Apple Photos. ISO 400 @ f4 @ 1/500th. Plus .3EV.
Mallards on ice…
Mallards: Kennebunk River, York County, Maine, USA — It has been an atypically warm winter, and we have had very little ice in the rivers…here we are in mid-January, and we only had a significant amount of ice over the last few days. I generally find concentrations of ducks at edges of river ice and I have missed the mergansers, the occasional wood duck and the rafts of mallards. There was a group of over 100 mallards on the Kennebunk when I visited yesterday…the first large concentration I have seen this winter. Ducks on ice are always photogenic, even in the relatively dull light of a January day. I like the way this group is arranged within the frame…almost exactly were I would have placed them in a painting. 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Mallards on gold…
Mallard Ducks: Kennebunk, Maine, USA — The golden hour comes earlier and earlier as fall moves on toward winter in southern Maine. This group of Mallards in the marshy area behind Roger’s Pond Park in Kennebunk seem to float on molten gold…and have a touch of gold in the plumage. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 160 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Desperate #2
Mallards, Roger’s Pond, Kennebunk, Maine, USA — Like the Rock Pidgin from yesterday’s post, Mallards probably do not get the appreciation they deserve, simply because they are so common…the default puddle duck across much of North America…likely wherever there is the smallest body of fresh (or at least non-salt) water. I have seen them in rushing rivers and the deep puddles on people’s yards after heavy rains…and everywhere in between. They are, however a beautiful bird, worth the good look I rarely give them. These two bright males were on the small kid’s pond (fishing and skating) in a park here in town. Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. ISO 500 @ f4 @ 1/500th.
Mallards
Mallard, Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk, Maine, USA
I don’t generally get excited about Mallards. They are our most common duck here in Southern Maine…present wherever there is fresh water…ponds, rivers, and marshes. This pair, however, posed among the floating debris of a little backwater between Roger’s Pond and the street above, are just too picture perfect to pass up…especially in these days of self-isolation and limited photo ops 🙂 Sony Rx10iv at 600mm equivalent. Program mode with my custom birds and wildlife modifications. Processed in Polarr and Apple Photos. Two obtrusive reeds removed in TouchRetouch.
Winter ducks on the Mousam
Mallards, the Mousam River at Roger’s Pond Park, Kennebunk Maine
It has been super cold the past few days (and nights) and the Mousam River has finally frozen up to the rapids at Roger’s Pond Park here in Kennebunk Maine. That is traditionally the edge of the ice in Winter, and is where the ducks gather to feed, and sometimes the Eagles too. This is the largest single flock of Mallards I have seen there this winter so far. Gotta love that iridescent green!
Sony RX10iii at 424mm equivalent field of view. 1/400th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in PhotoShop Express on my iPad Pro.
Common Eider keeps her crab…
Common Eider (female), Back Creek, Kennebunk Maine
I wrote about this female Common Eider a few days ago. I watched her catch crabs just off the bridge near our beach where it crosses Back Creek for half an hour the other day, and watched her repeatedly avoid having her catch taken by a predatory gull. Her technique was simple. She took the crab where the gull could not go…back under water. This sequence catches the action. It reads as text would, left to right and down line by line.
Sony Rx10iii at 600mm equivalent field of view. 1/250th @ ISO 100 @ f4. Processed in Polarr on my iPad Pro, and assembled in Frame Magic.
Just a duck or two…Ducks Away!
Pintail and Mallard Ducks (mostly), Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge, Socorro New Mexico
The first days at the Festival of the Cranes at Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge in Socorro New Mexico, the fields behind Coyote Deck were still dry. On Thursday they began to pump water in, and by Saturday there were at least 5000 ducks, mostly Mallards and Pintails, gathered to feed on the floating seeds and shoots. They flood those fields to bring Ducks and Cranes and Geese within easy viewing of Willow and Coyote Decks on the Festival weekend every year. Bosque del Apache is intensively managed all year for the wildlife, but during the Festival of the Cranes, yearly, for close to 30 years, they also manage for the people who come to view the wildlife. And, just as I always hope for a Snow Geese rising shot at Bosque, I have come to appreciate the “Ducks Away” experience off Coyote Deck. I watched the field flood daily and stopped along the road when I finally saw the congregation of ducks, and waited. Most years the ducks just continue to feed while I am watching, but they rise often enough to give me hope…like once in past 6 years 🙂 This year, as I stood there hopping from one foot to the other to keep warm, a Refuge truck came down the dike road on the inside of the tour loop and, as it passed, the ducks startled and took to the air. I had an intense few moments there until they settled again.
Sony RX10iii at 580mm equivalent field of view. Action and Flight mode (my own saved program). 1/1000th @ f4.5 @ ISO 100. Processed in Snapseed on my Android tablet.
Mallard!
Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve, Bucks County, PA
There were a few birds active at Bowman’s Hill Wildflower Preserve when we visited last week. We watched a pair of Mallards on the river for 20 minutes as they worked their way down the far bank.
Nikon P900 at 2000mm equivalent field of view. 1/500th @ ISO 400 @ f6.5. Processed in Lightroom. Getting detail in the finest features of a Mallard’s back is a test of the limits of any camera!