Camera Critters: First Day of Spring

After what seemed to be a very long cold winter spring arrived almost as fast as if one had flipped a switch. While snow still covered much of the landscape last Friday, now it only lingers in a few spots. Yesterday I noticed my first blooming daffodils, what a pretty spot of color against the brown landscape!

Today I towed the boat to the nearby lake in hopes of encountering some of the migrating waterfowl now streaming through our area and I was not to be disappointed. During the morning I spotted three Red-breasted Merganser males, a pair of Hooded Mergansers, a flock of twenty or so Ring-necked ducks, a pair of Wood Ducks, two pair of Mallards, three Horned Grebes, a number of Canada Geese and one Lesser Scaup male.

I found this Lesser Scaup hanging out with the Ring-necked ducks but when they took flight he stayed behind. I was able to maneuver the boat to within close camera range as he swam the length of the lake.

Getting the boat too close for his comfort, the Scaup began pattering across the surface is a great spray of water

As those of you who have followed Country Captures for some time know, getting out on the water with the migrating waterfowl is one of my favorite photography pursuits.

Using a boat frequently allows me to get very close to waterfowl and sometimes it makes it possible to capture spectacular take-off images. Boating for waterfowl also allows me to combine photography with another of my favorite activities, fishing, and today was no exception. After the waterfowl action had died down for the morning I picked up the rod and caught a nice meal of spring bluegills. Boating, birds, fishing and beautiful warm weather; today certainly was the perfect First Day of Spring.

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