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Yesterday morning I just happened to look at this male Common Goldeneye through my viewfinder for a moment, even though he was far away. He was sitting lazily on the water and so small in the frame I took my eye away from my camera to look for other birds. Almost immediately after I looked away he started racing across the water in my general direction so I instinctively got him in my viewfinder again. This is the first shot I got.<\/p>\n
No, his feet aren’t deformed. He’s just closed the webs so they don’t increase air resistance.<\/em><\/p>\n At first I thought he was taking off from the pond but he wasn’t. As evidenced by the water splashes he ran across the water to build up speed, just enough speed to barely become airborne, and then he…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n stopped running and flew so low over the water that…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n his feet were only millimeters above the surface but they never…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n actually touched it.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n These first five photos are very similar because the timing of my shutter and his wingbeats were synchronized so his wing position in each shot was nearly the same.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n But then he began to put on the brakes so this wing position is different and…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n his flared tail began to drag in the water.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n His feet hit the water and he water skied to a…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n complete stop, eventually.<\/p>\n I have more sharp shots of him coming to a stop but in those photos he’d turned his head to an angle that doesn’t allow us to see his eye. Very soon after he came to a stop he resumed doing nothing, as if he as in a competition for the honor of being the laziest bird on the pond.<\/p>\n I have no idea why he ran across the pond. He didn’t take off and he wasn’t chasing another duck. The other question is… why didn’t he just swim to his intended destination? His starting point and ending point were little more than 50′ apart so he could have swam that distance quickly with much less effort and ‘wasted’ energy.<\/p>\n I know, it’s a meaningless question. Trying to figure out motivations of birds is very often an exercise in frustration but I think about stuff like that.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n Whatever his motivation he seemed pretty proud of himself as he performed a celebratory? wing flap soon after reaching his new destination on the water.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n It was considerate of him to conduct his performance at an angle to the sun that revealed some of the green iridescence in his head. I like seeing that color, which often isn’t visible.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Another thing, different but related. I’m in the throes of trying to decide if I should invest in a new camera to replace my seven year old Canon 7D Mark II. But I was pretty impressed by how well my ‘ancient’ 7DII locked onto this goldeneye and followed him as he headed almost directly toward me at high speed. I never lost focus on him, not once.<\/p>\n The camera I’m considering, the mirrorless Canon R5, would be almost a $5K investment if you include all the supporting gear I’d need. So a tough decision becomes even more difficult when my relic 7DII performs this well.<\/p>\n I’ve gotta get off that damn fence and make a decision so thoughts from readers, especially those who may own the R5, would be welcomed.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Like the chicken who crossed the road, I have no idea.<\/p>\n And this bird complicated my decision about buying a new camera. (11 photos)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/common-goldeneye-7366-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-goldeneye-7366-ron-dudley\\"")
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