Ducklings

Photographing the waterfowl migrations this spring was a huge disappointment.  With the draining of the Meadow Grounds Lake I no longer had a body of water near home where I could photograph waterfowl from the boat.

 

  With Raystown Lake the next nearest place to boat in Pennsylvania I spent at least one day each weekend fishing and attempting to photograph waterfowl there only to find that the waterfowl photography in no way compared to working the much smaller Meadow Grounds.  While various species of waterfowl were present for the most part they would flush while I was too far away for good photography. 

 

With the Meadow Grounds out of play what waterfowl photography I did encounter occurred in small wetlands.  With some of the results posted here.

 

Wood Duck hen with both Wood Duck ducklings and Hooded Merganser young

 

This was the first time I ever observed a wood duck with both wood duck and hooded merganser ducklings in tow.  I expect that the mergansers made it back to the proper mother as I have not observed a mixed flock since. 

 

Wood Duck duckling

All ducklings are not hatched at the same time so it is common to see young of various sizes in a single outing.

 

Mallard Duckling foraging in the shallows

 

Hooded Merganser apparently from an early hatch

 

Hooded Merganser duckling feeding.
 

 

Middle Creek and More

Snow Geese

 



Tundra Swan



Tundra Swans off Willow Point



Wood Duck with reflected golden morning light

 

Birds on the Move

 

Finally, after a dull drab winter, the bright colors of brilliantly marked waterfowl again grace our local waters. 

 

Spending the early morning in a pop-up blind along a wetland I observed Canada geese, mallards and wood ducks. 

 

Male Red-winged Blackbirds were busy singing their lusty territorial song as they lay claim the their preferred nesting areas.  I spotted Red-wings for the first time this year on Monday.  Today was my first sighting of Wood Ducks.

 

 

I was unable to reach the Meadow Grounds Lake by car this morning because of the snow remaining from Wednesdays storm; however from the top of the mountain I could both see and hear a flock of Tundra Swans on the lake. Returning with the truck close to mid day I found that the swans had moved on with only this mixed flock of ducks remaining. The flock seen here contained 3 male Red-heads, one male Red-breasted Merganser, and one male Common Golden-eye. Last weekend I observed Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, and Ring-necked ducks here.

I still find it hard to believe that soon this vibrant wildlife community will be gone. Even now the level is dropping as the first of the stop logs were removed from the dam this past week.

 

The mission of the Fish and Boat Commission is to protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources and provide fishing and boating opportunities.

 

With lakes drawn down or drained all over the state, fish hatcheries scheduled to close, and boat ramp maintenance everywhere put on hold it seems to me that the time has come for either the PFBC to rewrite their mission statement or begin to step up to the plate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Six Years and Still Going

Immature Wood Duck Male

A little over six years ago I began this blog with no clear direction as to where it was going.  At the time I was shooting with a Canon S2 IS Power Shot camera.  This was my third digital camera and the first with a decent zoom lens. 

Back in the 1970's I had owned a couple of Minolta SLR's along with a 50mm, 135mm, and inexpensive 400mm lens.  I did a lot of shooting in B&W in those days along with developing and printing with a portable darkroom setup.  I dabbled with wildlife photography but never became serious about it.  Then life got in the way and with the demands on my time and finances photography fell by the wayside. 

Immature Wood Duck Male

Fast forwarding to 2006 I was rediscovering photography; finding that my latent interest was still there and that digital appeared to hold solid advantages over film.  Gone was the processing cost, gone was the wait time between shooting a frame and finally seeing the outcome, and gone was all of the trash prints when overexposure, blur, underexposure etc. rendered the image unusable.  I went a long happily clicking away with the little Canon until one day my brother Willard handed me his Canon 10D with a 300mm F4 attached.  As I checked it out, pointing it at various subjects, touching the shutter button and watching it snap into sharp focus; I knew then and there that I needed to upgrade.  There was no doubt in my mind that I wanted to pursue photography to a degree that I had never attempted before.  As it was I had no inkling where that this path was to lead, a path that those of you who have faithfully visited Country Captures over the years have walked with me. 

Wildlife photography has instilled a deeper appreciation in me for our wildlife, our public lands, and our environment as a whole.  During this photographic journey my eyes have been opened not just to wildlife and their habits but also to the politics surrounding our wildlife and our environment.   

For those of you who have followed Country Captures throughout the years, thank you and for those who just recently found me, thanks for visiting and I hope you found it to be a site worth revisiting.  

Hoodies, Woodies, and Honkers

My spring waterfowl photography at a local wetlands has been more difficult than expected this year.  The birds are always wary but this year they have been doubly so.  Finding empty shotgun hulls strewn about indicated that some hunting activity had taken place sometime during the last week of Canada goose season in late February.  The scare has apparently not been forgotten.

After a number of unsuccessful attempts I decided to make an early morning attempt but walking in and setting up the blind well before daylight.  Settling back for a nap once the blind was up the sounds coming from the wetlands told of Canada geese, wood ducks, mallards, hooded mergansers, and assorted frogs.  As the faint light of a new day began brightening the eastern sky flocks could be heard taking off.  By full light most of the waterfowl had departed.  This hooded merganser cruised into view about 30 yards away.  At the first shutter click he reversed course, swimming rapidly for cover.  I could here his calling from various parts of the wetlands throughout the morning. 

Around 8:30am a small flock of wood ducks cruised past.  The male woodies are our most colorful duck and as with the hooded merganser the calm water reflected him perfectly.

One hen accompanied the flock of males.  Her muted colors suit her perfectly for the upcoming nesting season.

A flock of common grackles perched nearby and treated me to the loud singing.  I always look forward the seeing the flocks of grackles each spring.  During the 1960's and '70's huge flocks would descend each spring.  By the 1980's the big flocks were gone and only small flocks of a few dozen birds were seen.  I have began to notice during the last few years that the flock sizes seem to be growing once again however they are still no match for the massive flocks of forty years ago.

Before leaving the wetlands I spotted this Canada nesting on a small hummock just above waterline.  I have taken photographs of geese on the nest before but this is my first nesting reflection shot.

Wood Ducks on the Water

Spotting a flock of Wood Ducks hiding out in the back of a small cove I nosed the boat slowly towards them.

The wary wood ducks soon errupted in flight their brilliant colors flashing like jewels in the morning sun.

Lakeside Captures

 After getting the boat launched Wednesday morning I took a moment to look around spotting this Great Blue Heron standing in the muck at the water's edge.  Slowly moving the boat closer I maneuvered for an good lighting angle to take advantage of the early morning sun as it began to burn through the fog.

Spotting another Heron later I again motored in closer and was surprised to see a feeding pair of immature wood ducks as they rounded the point.  After a few minutes the ducks and heron came into alignment allowing me to capture all in one photograph.

 The heavy dew glistens like jewels on the grass.  One duck looks for its next morsel as the other stretches is wings.

Plucking a blade of grass

And demonstrating the "Duck Step"

The pair were oblivious to me sitting nearly motionless in the shallow water with the boat rammed against a couple of stumps.  Wood ducks at this location are normally very wary but with the bright sun at my back they didn't seem to notice me until they had moved some distance away.

Fishing was slow as expected.  The Heron and Wood Ducks were "The Catch of the Day"

Moving into Summer

By the calendar we still have a few days to go but with the heat wave that has settled across our region it feels as if summer is already upon us.  I haven't shot much lately and have spent very little of the long precious evenings on the computer.  Other task such as lawn mowing, planting and weeding our vegetable garden along with other interest like fishing or reading a good book on the deck as the sun creeps below the horizon has kept me outside enjoying the warm weather as this year's cold wet spring becomes a memory.

With the onset of summer the yucca highlighted by the setting sun is nearly ready to bloom; a reminder that summer is nearly here. 

After all of the frenetic mating activity among the local Wood Ducks that I photographed early this year a recent visit to the wetlands revealed the fruits of their labors. 

Growing like the proverbial weed this years hatch of ducklings are doing very well.  The ducklings spend little time with their mothers now dispersing throughout the marsh to forage alone or in pairs.  Although this habit does not allow the ducklings the advantage of having a watchful adult maintaining a lookout for danger it does reduce the likelihood of a predator being able to capture multiple ducking in one attack. 

Considering how quickly this duckling went from calmly feeding to fleeing at the click of the shutter from about fifteen yards away it doesn't appear to require the attention of an adult to keep it safe.

Sunday Evening Surprise

Finding a couple of free hours Sunday evening I headed to the local wetlands eager to see if any young ducks were about. As I moved into position I spotted a wood duck hen leading a large brood along the water's edge screened by the overhanging brush.  Disapointed that I was unable to photograph the young woodies I hid along the shoreline hoping for activity to develop.   Some time later this colorful male swam into view just long enough for a couple of quick clicks before he sought safety elsewhere.

Fifteen minutes later I was caught totally off guard by this family of Hooded Mergansers as they swam into view at close range from my left; the blind side of this shooting location. Try as I might I could not find them in the camera's viewfinder until they were nearly out of sight leaving me with a shot that is not nearly as sharp as I desired. Even though I failed in obtaining a "print" quality image I was still pleased to be able to document this year's first encounter with the young hoodies.

Thunder Storms & Wood Ducks

Our weather has been unsettled the last few weeks.  This has made it difficult to work in some good camera time between my work schedule, chores and the frequent rains.  Tuesday evening the sky looked as if it may break so I took the chance and headed to the wetlands.  Only a couple of miles from home and rain drops began hitting the windshield and the sky became darker by the moment.  By the time I had the gear ready to head into the wetland the rain was pelting steadily down with the occasional flash of lightening followed by the clap of thunder.  A roofed in pavilion sits near one edge of the wetlands so I took cover as the storm passed through.

I made this shot during the storm showing a willow beginning to green contrasting with the browns of winter.

When the rain slowed I headed in and set up hoping for duck activity and I didn't have long to wait.  I could hear a female wood duck calling and soon she and a group of males swam into sight.  It was obvious they had mating on their minds.  The female was swimming about quacking loudly followed by the group of males.  At times she would drop her head into the water while either chasing a male or being pursued by one.  With the light levels very low and shutter speed in the pit I still attempted to capture the intense action taking place in front of me.

400mm , F5.6, ISO400, 1/45

The storm moved away and light had improved a slight bit when this male came very near my hide.  This first click of the shutter brought him to a stand still; just what I needed and for the next few frames he remained stationary before raising his crest in alarm and swimming off into the surround cover.  For the remainder of the evening I could hear the female calling and the occasion splashing as the woodies continued their mating ritual nearby.  

Woodie & Hoodie

Waterfowl shots have became more difficult to come by lately as the duck at the local wetlands learn my habits avoiding those spots where I can set up.  Even with the more difficult conditions I am still getting the occasional image, like this wood duck male, that makes the wait worthwhile.  Even when the birds do not cooperate the time spent is still enjoyable listening to the whistles of the wood ducks, the quacks of the mallards, and the guttural growling call of the hooded mergansers.

A female Hooded Merganser swims rapidly across a narrow opening with her crest erect.  And what a crest it is.  I tend to think of these ducks as the duck with a paint brush bristling out on top of their heads.

I'm already looking forward to when in a few weeks ducklings will begin hatching, beginning a new phase of my waterfowl photography season.

Wood Ducks: A Close Encounter

Saturday morning once again found me concealed in my little pop-up blind along a wetland water's edge.  Ducks and geese were calling from areas of the marsh hidden to me as I hoped that it was only a matter of time until some waterfowl would pass by my position. 

As the first rays of the morning sun played across the hilltop west of the wetland an pair of Wood Ducks swam into view with the hen leading the way. 

As they neared my hide the male stopped momentarily to preen.  I was surprised to have captured his webbed foot in the clear water.

The pair approached until they were so close that the only way I could see them was through the viewfinder of the camera.  As they were coming in the view through the viewfinder was blurry and I wondered if some of my camo material had gotten in front of the lens.  With the ducks so close, reaching out to adjust the material was totally out of the question so I continued firing in case all was well.  The problem turned out to be a steamed viewfinder caused by my breath to contacting it's cold surface at some point.

The ducks were within spitting distance for this image.  As so often happens the clicking shutter attracted their attention and they quickly moved on.

Photographing these wild wary ducks is not an easy task, they are not "park" ducks and are fully aware of the dangers humans present however as I continue to improve my camo and approaches I am getting closer and closer shots of these our most colorful North American ducks. 

Last weekend a large group of Wood Duck males were pursuing a single female but by this weekend things had settled down with mated pairs of Wood Ducks calmly cruising wetlands.

Wood Duck Mating Activity

As I stated in the previous post a group of Wood Duck males were pursuing a single female.  The activity as furious at times during their pursuit.

At times the hen would turn the tables and pursue one of the males.

As she closes in on a suitor here with her head held low in the water he really gets the move on!  Check out the wakes they are creating.

Satisfied that she had moved him a sufficient distance she then turned to face other males following behind.

Soon the entire flock moved to another part of the wetlands where they were no longer visible from my hide.  As the morning passed I could hear the whistling and splashing of the wood ducks but all opportunity for photographs had passed. 

My next post will be of photos from a visit I made with Willard to the Middle Creek Waterfowl Management Area on Tuesday to photograph the waterfowl there with special emphasis on the thousands of Snow Geese stopping in on their trip north to their nesting grounds.

Wood Duck Portraits

My Saturday morning photo session with the Wood Ducks was the best I have ever had. 

The ducks, with mating on their minds, were not quite as cautious as usual.

The entire encounter lasted eight minutes as the ducks moved in and out of the brush searching for and chasing a lone female. 

Upon review I found that I had captured nearly 50 shots, most of which were keepers.

 The action shots from this exciting encounter will soon follow in a later post.