The Black-bellied Whistling Duck is a big, colorful duck…goose sized really…and there is nowhere better to see them than the Rio Grande Valley of Texas. This is Edinburg Scenic Wetlands World Birding Center in Edinburg Texas. Edinburg Wetlands is one of my favorite spots to digiscope birds (take pictures through the eyepiece of my spotting scope) and Black-bellied Whistling Ducks always make good targets.

The final shot is not digiscoped but it shows off the pink feet. It was taken at 1260mm equivalent with the 1.5x digital tel-converter on the Canon SX40HS. 

1) and 2) Canon SD100HS behind the 15-56x Vario Eyepiece on the ZEISS DiaScope 65FL spotting scope for equivalents of about 4000mm and 1500mm. ISO 100 at 1/80th and 1/200th.

3) Canon SX40HS at 1260mm equivalent (840mm optical x 1.5 digital converter). f8 @ 1/1250th @ ISO 800.

Processed in Lightroom for Intensity and Sharpness.