Figure 1 – Hood merganser group, male and two females, Blac’s Nook, Fresh Pond Reserve, Cambridge, MA. (c) DE Wolf.

To my eye, the most beautiful of the New England ducks is the Hooded Merganser – Lophodytes cucullatus.  They migrate here in the fall and then again in April.  The hoods on the males are beautiful as are the ruddy and gray fuzzy heads of the females.  I have been trying to photograph them for about two years now.  It required my big lens, since they like to stay on the unpeopled side of Black’s Nook and head over there at the first sign of human presence.  Walk in their direction and they scatter dramatically, skirting over the water as if at play.

This particular morning, I decided to get them in my lens sights and just waiting.  they rewarded me by coming within about 75 meters, which was enough to capture them with the lens fully extended.  I just kept taking photographs and waiting for the right configuration and as a result was able to capture the image of Figure 1 of a male and two females swimming by.  The male’s hood is not extended; but I really like the grouping.  The image is a bit grainier than I like, a combination of using ISO 1600 and the need, even at this focal length to crop the final image.

Canon T2i, EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM Canon lens at 400 mm, IS 1 on, ISO 1600, Aperture-priority AE mode, 1/400th sec at f/8.0 with no exposure compensation, camera monopod mounted.