{"id":43976,"date":"2016-12-03T06:23:08","date_gmt":"2016-12-03T13:23:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.featheredphotography.com\/blog\/?p=43976"},"modified":"2016-12-03T09:59:50","modified_gmt":"2016-12-03T16:59:50","slug":"a-diving-redhead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/2016\/12\/03\/a-diving-redhead\/","title":{"rendered":"A Diving Redhead"},"content":{"rendered":"

I always enjoy photographing redheads,\u00a0be they human or avian…<\/p>\n

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\"redhead-1450-ron-dudley\"<\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yesterday morning I found three male\u00a0Redheads foraging\u00a0on a pond near my home. It was nice to see these wild ducks there among all the Mallard hybrids, geese and coots. I think Redhead males\u00a0are one of the more handsome of the ducks and in this image I like the way the bird is\u00a0sitting at the top of a wind-caused swell in the water which revealed a little more of the bird’s body than we might normally see.<\/p>\n

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\"redhead-1470-ron-dudley\"<\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

The water was shallow and this duck would often put its head underwater to scope out\u00a0the food prospects on the bottom before diving.<\/p>\n

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\"redhead-1472d-ron-dudley\"<\/p>\n

1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

Redheads\u00a0are extremely buoyant which makes submerging a challenge so just prior to diving this bird would stretch its neck way up before…<\/p>\n

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\"redhead-1473c-ron-dudley\"<\/p>\n

1\/2500, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

pushing upwards against the water with its webbed feet in order to\u00a0elevate more of its mass and give it more momentum as its curved body…<\/p>\n

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\"redhead-1474-ron-dudley\"<\/p>\n

1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 500, Canon 7D,<\/em> Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/strong><\/p>\n

re-entered the water. This strategy, along with breathing out (expiration) to reduce buoyancy\u00a0just prior to the dive, allows these ducks to reach the bottom (and stay there for a few moments) with less energy\u00a0expenditure than would otherwise be required.<\/p>\n

I’m fascinated by behaviors and survival strategies and I’ll photograph them any chance I get. Hopefully these three Redheads will stick around until the pond freezes over (if it ever does…).<\/p>\n

Ron<\/p>\n

Notes:<\/em><\/p>\n