Visiting the Creek: Canada Geese

With daylight savings time and the lengthening days I am finally able to work in some evening outdoor time before the sun sinks below the horizon. This afternoon the sun broke through the clouds that have been obscuring the sky for days and the thermometer climbed to 50F. I decided after dinner to check the local creek for geese and whatever else that may tickle my photographic fancy.

As my wife climbed into the truck I checked the focus distance setting on the 100-400 lens, set the ISO to 400 and the F-stop to 6.3 and thought I was ready to go. Arriving at a creek crossing we hopped out to walk and I put the camera to my eye pressing the shutter button halfway…….and nothing! The camera did not focus or set the shutter speed, instead in the bottom of the viewfinder was a flashing no cf. I had not replaced the CF card after my last download. Having only taken the camera and leaving the camera bag (full of CF cards) at home there was no option but to return home. With the trip only being one mile it was no big deal. So much for being the one preaching “always be prepared”!





After securing a card I headed to another crossing and here my luck improved. A pair of geese feeding a short distance down the creek allowed me to approach quite closely while keeping their heads held low in an attempt to remain unnoticed.

Once I began approaching directly they raised their heads watching me intently until I was forced to look down while taking my next step. The geese seized the moment when I broke eye contact to depart.

As the geese took to the air I was able to get off three shots, posted here are the first and second images. By the third shot I was off-focus but what the heck two out of three ain’t bad :)