Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Northern Shoveler


The spring migration of waterfowl is rapidly winding down in my area. During my visit to the lake Saturday morning a few Loons and the lone Redhead were still present along with this flock of Northern Shovelers.

I decided not to press closely to the Shovelers until after sunup. I approached only near enough to capture identifying images at ISO 800 and 1/80th of a second. The morning was brightening as the sun neared the horizon but before it could crest, the flock lifted off and flew north across the lake rising above the trees and continuing on in that direction until they disappeared from view.

According to one birding guide the Northern Shoveler is the first duck to fly south in the fall and the last to journey north come spring. Although I was hoping to capture better shots, in this my first photographic encounter with the species, I am very pleased to add another duck species to my photo collection.

6 comments:

Shelley said...

This is a lovely shot! I've always wanted to see a Shoveler.

Ruth's Photo Blog said...

The Shovelers have arrived in Manitoba.Hope I can get a chance for some photos,as good as yours.
Blessings,Ruth

Anonymous said...

Those are pretty ducks. The reddish wings are quite striking...debbie

Chris said...

Hi Coy,
This is a nice shot. I guess they are pretty scare about human presence if they are like the one we do have in France. here in Iceland, there are few individuals, but you never get close enough to get a picture, unless you are doing digiscopy!!

Montanagirl said...

Well, you captured a very nice photo of them! We've seen a few N.Shovelers here too.

Leedra said...

You got closer than I was able to in Fla while there in Feb.

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