Lovely Buffleheads

Of all the ducks that pass through our area I think the Bufflehead drakes are up there near the top of the prettiest. Their brilliant white against a dark iridescent sheen creates an amazingly beautiful little creature.

Again this morning I took the boat in search of wildlife images. I noted Tom’s (Wom Tigly) comment about being able to approach wildlife better when using means other than walking. The boat is an advantage. As I am no saint and certainly cannot walk on water unless it is frozen it will take me places that I cannot go otherwise. The disadvantage is that we are not many months past the close of the duck hunting seasons. All of the migratory birds are veterans. The sight of a boat means trouble for along with it comes men, shotguns, and death. The ducks know what the effective range of the shotguns are and will flush before I can approach that close.

I have been using a 400mm lens on these excursions and it is bare minimum. All shooting must be done hand-held for sitting a tripod on a rocking boat would be of no help. Even with image stabilization and an ISO of 400 many of my shots do not exhibit the degree of sharpness that I desire. Focusing is also hit-or-miss since it is nearly impossible to hold the focus point on the subject for more than a moment. With that being said I have had enough success with the boat that I will definitely try to get in a few more runs before the migratory waterfowl has passed by.

Fishing is beginning to get underway here also. I dropped a line for a little bit this morning and picked up both a perch and a bluegill in 39 deg water. The first catch of ‘08