![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/common-merganser-2409-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-merganser-2409-ron-dudley\\"")
<\/p>\nCommon Mergansers are fast fliers so yesterday I was happy to get multiple\u00a0shots of three of them in flight.<\/p>\n
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1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n There were actually four mergansers in this group as they approached the pond from my left but I never did get all four birds in frame while they were still high in the air. As they descended they looped around the pond\u00a0and came in to land in the opposite direction and into the north breeze. Their relatively heavy bodies and very narrow wings are indicative of their typical fast flight which averages about 44 mph, making them a difficult subject for the photographer while they’re in flight.<\/p>\n These six images were taken in a quick burst lasting .6 seconds and there are no skips in the series. All of the photos are similar to each other but I thought it was interesting to note their subtle differences in flight posture as they skimmed low over the water while they were still in a slight banking turn\u00a0and traveling very fast.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n I enjoy the splayed feet of the bird on the right as its right wing actually clips the water’s surface.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n There are a lot of birds on the pond so the mergansers now had an audience – a Pied-billed Grebe and a coot. They would have been easy to remove but I chose not to.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n Now it’s the merganser on the left whose wing is clipping the water.<\/p>\n I always find it interesting to note how far birds in flight have traveled between sequential camera clicks.\u00a0In three of these photos\u00a0the grebe and the coot serve as “place markers” to…<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/4000, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n give us some indication of that distance.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n 1\/3200, f\/6.3, ISO 640, Canon 7D Mark II, Canon EF 500mm f\/4L IS II USM + EF 1.4 III Extender, not baited, set up or called in<\/em><\/p>\n This is the last shot I got before I lost focus on the birds. With them so close to the water I was happy to get them relatively sharp for as long as I did.<\/p>\n The fourth merganser in the group was actually right in front of these birds and in several of these photos I had\u00a0part of that bird in frame. In order to achieve an acceptable composition and remove\u00a0the distracting fragments of bird from the photos\u00a0I chose to clone that bird out. I also removed a very bright-white and out of focus gull in one of the images – that bright spot hurt my eyes.\u00a0Cloning is something I don’t like to do but right or wrong I chose to make an exception for this series.<\/p>\n I enjoy seeing the mergansers back on the pond – it’s been a while. I just hope they can avoid becoming entangled in fishing line and snagged by discarded hooks while they’re here. Four years ago I documented\u00a0some mergansers on this pond who weren’t so lucky<\/a>.<\/p>\n Ron<\/p>\n PS – I had a very refreshing experience on the pond yesterday afternoon soon after photographing these mergansers. I always groan when fishermen pull into the parking lot because they always seem to fish from shore very close to my pickup (my “mobile blind”) and keep or scare\u00a0the birds away. The fishermen tend to be oblivious to the\u00a0concerns of photographers.<\/em><\/p>\n As one fisherman approached the pond he walked right between me and the birds\u00a0and I thought “here we go again!”.<\/em><\/p>\n But this\u00a0fellow was refreshingly different. He asked me where he could fish from on shore that wouldn’t interfere with our attempts at photographing birds (he’d obviously noticed our long lenses sticking out of the windows). He said that he’s a serious photographer himself (he photographs “people”) and he understands the challenges we face in situations like the pond. He listened to my response\u00a0and then chose a fishing spot that worked for both him and us. <\/em><\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/featheredphotography.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/common-merganser-2410-ron-dudley.jpg\" "\\"common-merganser-2410-ron-dudley\\"")
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