I don’t post a lot of ducks but mergansers of any species (there are three of them in North America) are among my favorites.
1/4000, f/5.6, ISO 400, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in
Ducks in flight are hard. Getting two of them “sharp enough” in the same shot is harder. Just over a week ago these two male Common Mergansers in breeding plumage had just taken off from a local pond. I was lucky enough to capture contrasting wing positions with the birds well separated from each other so the image caught my eye.
I always prefer a light angle that lights up the flashy green iridescence of the male’s head but this time the iridescence eluded me. For me the shadow of the leading bird’s head on his left wing helps to compensate for that shortcoming. It even appears as if that shadow has some delicate and appropriate shading to distinguish the bill from the rest of the head.
Here in northern Utah we’re out of the breeding range of Common Mergansers but I always enjoy them while they’re here.
Ron
Note:
Happy Birthday Ed Abbey!
I realize that crotchety ol’ Ed was and remains controversial but he’s been on my short list of heroes since the ’70’s. He did a lot to awaken the environmental movement and two of his books, “The Monkey Wrench Gang” and “Desert Solitaire”, are among my favorites in that genre.
Hayduke Lives! (I’ve had three “Hayduke Lives” T-shirts over the years if that tells you anything. One hangs in my closet now waiting for warmer weather.)
Here in SW CT, we are seeing fewer water fowl on Long Island Sound, likely due to warmer temps and less water freeze up north. Did have a thick billed murre recently for a couple of days, likely blown in from the ocean during a storm. Miss seeing CommonMergansers….Haven’t seen one for a couple of years. Our January 2020 temps were in the top 10:of warmest Januarys on record.
Really beautiful!!
Great image of the two, with the shadow and those bright bills and feet!
Thank you, Jane.
Gorgeous! Those orange bills and feet are quite striking.
We sure could use Edward Abbey nowadays!
We sure could. I can’t even imagine how he’d rage about what’s going on today.
Great photography and interesting comments. Makes my day fun.
Good. Thanks, Betty.
More duck photos, please. 🦆
Lyle, I’ll keep your request in mind… 🙂
It IS hard to get two flying white critters both in focus. I see you had excellent light. Congratulations!
In re Hayduke – here he is. https://www.dougpeacock.net/
Martha, I’ve actually met Doug Peacock twice. Both times in Montana’s remote Centennial Valley. The second time I was actually wearing one of my Monkey Wrench Gang T-shirts (Seldom Seen Smith). He laughed and told me he had the one that says “Hayduke Lives”, which is certainly appropriate. In at least one of his online photos he’s wearing that T-shirt.
Note: Ed Abbey modeled one of the primary characters in Monkey Wrench Gang, George Washington Hayduke, after wilderness and grizzly bear advocate Doug Peacock.
Thank you.
Safe for the moment, but the next few days will be testing. High temperatures and wind. And of course today is one where I will be in town (volunteer work). My partner will mind the fort. I assume that the water bombing will start again at first light.
More on topic, I do really, really like that shadow shot.
Desert Solitare is a book I reread at intervals too.
EC, I hope your safe moment becomes permanent. Thanks for the update.
Kings X!
Glad you’re OK and hope that you get some relief SOON!
The shadow catch is very cool. 🙂
Glad you like it, Arwen.
Lovely image, Ron. Nice light, good motion and I appreciate the relatively wide crop!
Thanks, Thomas. Confession time. That “relatively wide crop” was the result of my effort to crop out an ugly concrete flue in the upper right part of the frame. I’m glad it worked for you.
Cropping is often at the border of the art of the possible with the Requirements of the necessary. Tom
Nice! Rarely see males in flight here so it’s a different perspective on them… 🙂 The shadow is REALLY neat – bill area must be picking up some light reflected from the water….? See more of the hens and their huge clutches here – they are SO much fun to watch working the creek, “running” on the water, and searching under water for food. Canada geese in the thousands, I’d guess, are in the fields here at present and REALLY on the edges of the ice on the Missouri in Great Falls right now. Not sure they ever left – amazing how they can find enough food in the fields to sustain them! Sure hope EC stays safe!
“Not sure they ever left”
Judy, I’m getting the impression that that’s the case for a lot of birds that didn’t go as far south as usual this winter. HawkWatch International is reporting that more of their electronically monitored Rough-legged Hawks than usual are spending this winter in Montana.
I’ve been thinking about EC this morning too. I hope we hear from her and that she wasn’t forced out of her home by the fires.