Figure 1 – American black duck )hen). Fresh Pond Reservation, Cambridge, MA by the Glacken Field. (c) DE Wolf 2015.

I spotted this lone American black duck hen gliding quietly from behind a chain-link fence and a thicket of trees.  I walked quickly forward to find a place, where the trees would not obstruct my photograph and positioned the camera carefully so as to look through the fence and then I waited. Ducks are, in general, pretty wary even if protected from people. Here I got one of the most enjoyable aspects of bird photography, that moment when the bird notices you, turns her head, and watches you inquisitively.

I will admit to some confusion about identification.  The dark bill throws me. But I assume that this is the olive color that the guidebooks speak about for females. In English we make the distinction of the darkness of the feathers in this duck species.  It is a black duck. Taxonomists were clearly more concerned about the color of the feet.  Her formal Latin name means ruddy-footed duck, and indeed as she turned away from me these reddish feet were clearly visible.

Canon T2i with EF70-200mm f/4L USM lens at 200 mm, ISO 1600, Aperture Priority AE Mode, 1/2500 sec at f/7.1 with no exposure compensation.