female bufflehead

Posts Tagged ‘female bufflehead’

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bucephala albeola, bufflehead, bufflehead duck, Canon 50D, female bufflehead, Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge, Tamron 150-600mm, Woodbridge VA on December 17, 2020| 3 Comments »

She never approached the shore for the close-up that I was craving, but I was happy to capture this image of a pretty little female Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola) last week at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. Later in the winter I am likely to spot small flocks of Buffleheads in the deep waters, but on this day this one was all by itself.

Read Full Post »

Smiling bufflehead

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Bucephala albeola, bufflehead, bufflehead duck, Canon 50D, female bufflehead, Kingstowne VA, Tamron 150-600mm on January 2, 2020| 10 Comments »

Can birds smile? With rigid bills, it is probably anatomically impossible for birds to smile in the same way that humans do.

Sometimes, though, a bird will look at me in such a friendly, inquisitive way that it is easy for me to imagine that it is smiling at me. That was the case recently with this female Bufflehead duck (Bucephala albeola) that had cocked her head to the side and looked right at me.

I generally try to approach my subjects as slowly and stealthily as I can so that they will not perceive me as threatening. Of course, most wildlife subjects have much more highly developed senses than I do and they usually catch me in the act. Sometimes they will flee, but if I am lucky, they will simply smile at me.

Read Full Post »