Muskrat Morning

Once again my Saturday morning was spent set up beside a small wetland. With the heavy cloud cover daylight was slow in coming. As I sat in darkness the occasional outburst of quacks and honks accompanied by the sounds of wings flapping assured me the wetland was well occupied by waterfowl.

As the first vestiges of light began to penetrate the gloom I could see v-wakes moving swiftly across the nearby water. Checking through my binoculars I could faintly make out a splash of white about where a ducks head should be. My first thought was of hooded mergansers and as the light strengthened I found my hunch was right. A lone male was chasing two other pairs of hoodies, apparently challenging the other males for their mates.

Soon the wetlands began erupting with the sounds of the flapping of wings and wave after wave of ducks and geese exited in a northerly direction.

By the time adequate photography light arrived the flocks that had rested here during the night were gone, moving along on their ancient migratory paths.

Soon I noticed a wake moving across the water's surface and a moment later a small brown head appeared above the water. The muskrat passing my hidden location provided one of the few images of the morning. Although the morning was lackluster for waterfowl photography the outdoor memories were well worth the effort, the muskrat image was a bonus.