Surf Scoter: York County, Maine, USA, November 2026 — As I have said many times, bird and wildlife photography is all about being in the right place at the right time and ready. You cannot make the photo happen. You just have to be there when it happens, and be ready with your camera. I went down to the beach yesterday, even though the light was not great, in the chance there might be some sea ducks in close to the access road where it crosses the tidal creek or out along the point where the creek enters the river behind the dunes. I followed a Common Loon out to the point and found a few more Loons, good numbers of Red-breasted Mergansers, Grebes, female Eiders, and a lot of gulls where the waters meet, mostly too far out for satisfying photography. But then a duck, I was not even sure what it was, took flight and circled. I got a few shots panning with it in my normal birds and wildlife mode, but when it turned and headed back toward me and in closer, I quickly switched to my flight and action mode, which ups the shutter speed to 1/2000th and changes the focus area to wide. The bird flew by me close to the water and 40 or 50 feet out. I managed to get the bird in the frame for 3 frames out of an 8-frames-per-second burst. Right place, right time, and ready! Sony a7CR with the FE 100-400 f5.6-f8 OSS zoom at 400mm. Cropped to about 1000mm effective field of view. Processed using the Wonder tool in Topaz for iPad, and finished in Photomator. This one is getting framed for my wall.