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.

I want to thank everyone for their continued support of Hati and Skoll Gallery.  I have made several updates to the Galleries.  Images from Kennebunkport, ME previously in the “New Gallery” have now been distributed to the other galleries and new images have also been added to these galleries.  These include new bird photographs placed in the “Cabinet of Nature Gallery.” The “New Gallery” now contains photographs that I took in Madison, Wisconsin in early October 2014.

Thanks again to all of my friends and readers.

David

Figure 1 – Whistling swan, Marlborough, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

Figure 1 is a photograph of the great indigenous wild eastern American swan, called the “Whistling swan” (Cygnus columbianus).  It tends to be less pure white than the introduced european swan (the muted swan – cygnus olor) and is distinguished by it’s black as opposed to orange in, the muted, beak.  These birds are true peaceful elegance.  They are delightful to watch and truly seem to glide through the water.  You can always hear Saint-Saens music in your head.

John James Audubon (1785 – 1851) painted this bird in 1838. Whenever I visit a Massachusetts lake or pond, I look for them and, when I see them, I try to imagine what wild untouched America was like.  They are a connection with an otherwise forgotten past..

Figure 1 – Herring gull on the attack, Marlborough, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

I decided that I have been pretty lazy about lens choice in my bird photography. I have been carrying my 70-200 mm zoom rather than my big lens 100 – 400 mm. So this past Saturday, I planned a little excursion to a spot in Marlborough, MA where there are lots of water birds and where children like to go and “feed the duckies,” thinking I would get some praactive with the larger and nmore appropriate lens. I mounted my lens to my monopod and went out and snapped pictures gleefully.

I was photographing a swan, which will be the subject of tomorrow’s post. The swan was gliding along and came onto the turf of a bunch of juvenile delinquent herring gulls (Larus argentatus), who basically got very upset about the incursion and attacked the swan. The swan however was essentially nonplussed and could care less. But I did get the image of Figure 1 showing a gull in mid aerial attack. The coloring of the gull suggests that it is a second winter juvenile. You can also see water droplets thrown up by gull fury and captured mid air. I have framed it with another gull out of focus and floating on the water on the opposite side of the image. This to create an intentional contrast. I thought that for contrast I would also post a more tranquil gull resting very close to me on the shore.

This lens is wonderful for bird photography, and I happily find myself often pulling in the lens. Literally on the Canon EF100-400 f/4.5 – 5.6L IS USM lens, it’s pull and slide rather than turn to change focal length. I just keep focusing on the eyes and shooting every time I get or anticipate a pose that I like!

Figure 2 – Juvenile Herring gull, Marlborough, MA. (c) DE Wolf 2014.

Figure 1 – Canon T2i with EF100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L IS USM at 260 mm, ISO 1600 aperture-priority AE mode, 1/1600^th sec at f/8.0 with no exposure compensation, monopod mount, IS 1 engaged.