Mallards at Roger’s Pond, Kennebunk ME

Things are still rather slow, bird wise, in Southern Maine, as the warming spring sun struggles to release the fields and ponds from their winter burden of snow and ice. Still weeks to go with that job. There are a few ducks coming back to the Mousam near Roger’s Pond…though nothing like last year’s bonanza of Wood Ducks and Mergansers. This year we have only Mallards. This shot, one of the few I took on a walk around the frozen pond next to the river, is just such a classic. It reminds me of a Duck Stamp. If you don’t know Duck Stamps…more properly these days the Migratory Bird Stamp…you should. Hunters, by law, have to buy them and affix them to their Waterfowl hunting license. Something like 95% of the funds collected through Stamp sales goes to Migratory Bird Conservation…buying new habitat, restoring habitat in the National Wildlife Refuge System, etc. An increasing (but still too small) number of birders are also buying the Duck Stamp, in support of Migratory Bird Conservation. Besides doing your bit for conservation, a Duck Stamp gets you into any National Wildlife Refuge in the country for the year of its issue. That is a great deal for $15 even if you only make three visits to a NWR during the year. And that is my Duck Stamp story…now back to regularly scheduled photo show. 🙂

Nikon P900 at 1200mm equivalent field of view. 1/320th @ ISO 400 @ f6.3. Processed in Topaz Dejpeg and Lightroom on my Surface Pro 3 tablet.