Outdoor Ontario
Photography => Ontario Birds => Topic started by: Shortsighted on April 09, 2023, 03:05:07 PM
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I knew that some of them would eventually make an appearance. Now I need to concentrate on getting a little closer. There were more Hooded merganser on the water than previous days. Two female Common merganser were sunning themselves on a perch at the other side.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-FBh7mbw/0/987b6279/M/App%20m%2CF%2Ccrop-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-FBh7mbw/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-3SJLdt9/0/570503d5/M/Dark%20M%2C%20open%2Ccrop-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-3SJLdt9/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-6QmSDtK/0/649bf825/M/Hooded%2Ccrop-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-6QmSDtK/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-x4rX3KD/0/6503c200/M/Hooded%2Cgrooming%2Ccrop-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-x4rX3KD/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-2ZfV5bd/0/de0548f5/M/Hooded%2Ccalm%2Ccrop-M.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-2ZfV5bd/A)
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I had hoped to get somewhat closer to Ring-necked ducks today but that plan just wasn't going to work. Not for lack of trying. The main obstacle I had today, and one which I could not overcome, no matter what technique I tried, was that there were no ring-necked ducks on the water. No Common merganser either, but plenty of Hooded merganser. More of them than usual. So, I opted to try again for these merganser. I picked a spot next to a fallen willow. It was a massive trunk completely blocking my view to one side. Another small log was positioned just a few inches into the water which made it ideal to plant my boots against it for support and those boots were hidden behind the log when viewed from the water. I replaced my burlap camo cloth with a nylon item that felt much better ... no fibers of burlap flying all around my face. I also tried a camo poncho for the first time bolstering the effect of the over-cloth. I used a tripod so that I wouldn't have to move the lens into position should something suddenly appear from behind the fallen willow.
I figured that I could detect wavelets before anything might appear and that is exactly what happened. A male and female HM appeared close to shore (and therefore close to me) and despite my shutter slaps the birds were not alarmed, although perhaps you could say they were a little perplexed by that camo lump slumping on shore behind a log.
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-kSnvpxs/0/f4df3efc/L/H.Merganser%2Chidden%2Ccrop-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-kSnvpxs/A)
(https://photos.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-33ZfCMq/0/a9b4c780/L/H.Merganser%2Cvery%20close%2Ccrop-L.png) (https://steinphotography.smugmug.com/Outdoor-Ontarioorg/i-33ZfCMq/A)