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Posts Tagged ‘Hooded Merganser’

Curiosity

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Actitis macularius, Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, sandpiper, spotted sandpiper, Tamron 150-600mm on May 6, 2016| 4 Comments »

A Spotted Sandpiper (Actitis macularius) at Huntley Meadows Park seemed overwhelmed with curiosity as a female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) swam closer and closer. What were they thinking as they checked out each other?

I love to capture multiple species in a single image, particularly when they seem to be interacting with each other. In this case, the differences in size, shape, coloration, and body position make for some fascinating contrasts.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hooded Merganser Mama and Babies

Posted in Baby photography, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducklings, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm on May 5, 2016| 7 Comments »

Like so many others at Huntley Meadows Park, I have fallen in love with this Hooded Merganser family (Lophodytes cucullatus), with its hyper-vigilant Mom and nine growing babies. Occasionally I will see them all huddled together on a fallen log, but only rarely do I a clear look at them. The ducklings are be full of energy, ready to wander in multiple directions, and the Mom seems to be more than fully occupied watching out for predators and keeping the group together.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Foraging hoodie

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, male Hooded Merganser, Tamron 150-600mm on April 9, 2016| 8 Comments »

I love the distinctive look of the male Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) and it was a real treat to watch this one last weekend as he foraged in the vegetation at Huntley Meadows Park. Normally these small ducks are so skittish they fly away as soon as they sense my presence.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Teenager in love

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm, teenager in love on April 7, 2016| 8 Comments »

I spotted this Hooded Merganser couple (Lophodytes cucullatus) last Friday at Huntley Meadows Park enjoying a few quiet moments together.

The male duck has a wide-eyed goofy look on his face that makes me think of a teenager who has fallen in love. He worked up the courage to ask the cute girl on a date and she actually said yes. She’s playing it cool, but he can hardly contain his excitement.

It’s springtime and love is in the air.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Duck double dating

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas platyrhynchos, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, mallard, Tamron 150-600mm, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on March 3, 2016| 5 Comments »

Do dabbling ducks double date? It sure looked like that was the case earlier this week when I spotted a Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) couple and a Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) couple swimming away from a larger group of mostly mallards for a few quiet moments together. I grew up in a family with eight siblings, so I can really understand their pursuit of peace and privacy.

It’s almost springtime and many of the birds are searching for mates. Usually it’s the males that put on elaborate displayes, but I think the female “Hoodie” here was the one that went all out to impress her date with an elaborate hairstyle.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mama Merganser and babies

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Hooded Merganser ducklings, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on May 28, 2015| 9 Comments »

Shortly after sunrise at Huntley Meadows Park on Tuesday, a mother Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) checked on her seven babies and got them ready to start the day. I don’t know if the little family spent the night on the log, but it was probably a good idea to get moving before the numerous snapping turtles woke up. Most of the babies seem to be paying attention to the Mama in the first shot, though the one on the end seems to be daydreaming or is distracted.

A short while later the family dropped into the water and started to swim away. This second shot is my favorite one from an artistic perspective. I just love the interplay of the light and the shadows.

As the Merganser family continued to swim, it got tougher and tougher to track them amid all of the vegetation growing in the pond. Only occasionally would I get an unobstructed glimpse of them. I managed to get most of the family in this shot. One of the ducklings was a bit ahead of the group, perhaps the adventurous one on the end of the log in the first shot.

When they reached a spot that Mama Merganser considered to be safe, all of the babies began to stick their heads under the water. I don’t know if they were bathing or playing or if this was a lesson in fishing. Whatever the case, the mother duck remained vigilant.

It’s at moments like this that I regret that the father Merganser does not stay around to help in raising the ducklings. It would sure ease the burden on the Mama and would enhance the chances for survival for the cute little babies.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Checking on her eggs

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on May 23, 2015| 9 Comments »

Unlike some other species of birds, Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) don’t seems to sit on their eggs continuously. They will often lay them in nesting boxes and periodically check on them, perhaps adding more eggs to the nest.

I took this first shot earlier today at Huntley Meadows Park as a female Hooded Merganser was getting ready to eventually enter a nesting box. When I first spotted the female duck, she was standing on top of the nesting box. During previous springs I learned that this was a sign that she had eggs in the nesting box and that eventually she would fly into it. So I waited and waited, hoping to catch the moment.

It may look like she is actually preparing to enter the box, but in fact she had just stepped off of the roof and was gliding to the ground. Unfortunately, she dropped behind a virtual wall of vegetation and I could not see her when she lifted off from the ground and flew straight into the box and I missed that shot.

Here are a few shots of the female Hooded Merganser as she paced back and forth on the roof of the nesting box, peering to the right and to the left to makes sure that all was safe before she entered the box.

As I was doing some research on Hooded Merganser ducks, I came across a blog from Lee Rentz Photography that includes a video from inside a nesting box of a Hooded Merganser. Be sure to check it out.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Chasing the guys

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on March 15, 2015| 1 Comment »

Love is in the air and this female Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) chose to chase after her male suitors rather than wait for them to come to her.

She’s looks to be a feminist duck of the 21st century, determined to upend the traditional gender roles of the past. Who says you have to wait for the guy to make the first move?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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How do you like me now?

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, How do you like me now?, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on March 1, 2015| 6 Comments »

What’s going on here? Normally, it’s the male Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) that engages in courting behavior to attract a female, but in this case it looks like the situation was reversed. The female seems to be trying to get the attention of the male, who is playing hard to get and ignoring her antics.

I took these shots this past Friday at my local marshland park. After a week of several snowstorms and frigid temperatures, there was not much open water for the water birds. I managed to find an area where a small number of them, mostly mallards and Canada Geese, were congregated and moved forward toward them, painfully aware that the crusty snow was crunching under my feet. I was thrilled when I saw that a pair of Hooded Mergansera mixed in with the other, bigger birds.

As a few snow flurries started falling, I was able to get some individual shots of the Hooded Mergansers, as well as the opening shot of them swimming together.

The first photo seems to be calling out for a clever caption and I welcome any creative ideas from readers. I used the title of a Toby Keith song as the title of the posting, imaging the female duck was trying to impress the male, who had ignored her in the past. (Check out this video from Vevo if you are not familiar with the song.)

What scenario do you imagine when you see the initial photo?

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Valentine’s Day dating

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto, Velentine's Day on February 14, 2015| 8 Comments »

As I look at this image from last week of a couple of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) swimming together, they somehow remind me of a young adolescent couple out for a date on Valentine’s Day. There is an awkwardness in their body language, but the gawky male seems to have a smile on his face, content that he has found someone with whom to share these special moments.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Early bird—Scene II

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, dawn, Hooded Merganser, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on January 3, 2015| 9 Comments »

Oh say can you see by the dawn’s early light? Peering through a break in the bushes, I could just barely make out the unmistakeable shape of a male Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) as he slowly paddled away from the shore of a small pond at my local marshland park.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Hooded Merganser takeoff on Christmas Day

Posted in Birds, Christmas, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 26, 2014| 10 Comments »

On Christmas Day I managed to fit in a short walk at Huntley Meadows Park, my local marshland park, and captured these images of a pair of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) as they took off from the water and started to gain altitude.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Swimming into December

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto on December 2, 2014| 11 Comments »

I don’t know if they are going to stay for the winter or are just passing through, but yesterday, the first day of December, there were a dozen or so Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) cavorting in the water at Huntley Meadows Park, my local marshland park.

I was first alerted to their presence when I heard the unmistakable frog-like croak of one of the males. The Cornell Lab of Ornithology states that these ducks are usually silent except during courtship, when the courting male “makes a deep, rolling sound like the call of a pickerel frog, earning it the nickname of “frog-duck” in Georgia.” Check out this link to hear the call of the courting male Hooded Merganser. It seems a bit early for courting to be taking place, but the males were bouncing around as I have seen them do in the spring.

The Hooded Mergansers stayed pretty far out in the water and this is the best shot I could get of one of the males paddling by. The comic-like appearance of these ducks always makes me smile and I love their shiny golden eyes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mama duck redux

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, ducklings, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Mama duck on May 16, 2014| 8 Comments »

Several weeks after I first spotted a family of Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) at my local marsh, I continue run into this single mother and her adorable ducklings. (Click here to see the original posting.)

The ducks seem to hang out a lot in one flooded, shady area of the marsh that is relatively shallow and doesn’t seem to have the snapping turtles that plagued similar families last year. The light is limited and the ducks start moving as soon as they sense my presence, so getting photos has been a challenge. Here’s a selection of some of my favorite shots to date of this cute little family.

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Mama duck gives a reminder to the ducklings to stay together and follow her.

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Trying to move out, but some of the ducklings want to look back toward me.

Mama duck takes up a rear position to ensure there are no stragglers.

Mama duck takes up a rear position to ensure there are no stragglers.

Grainy close-up shot that shows some of the personality of the ducklings.

Grainy close-up shot that shows some of the personality of the ducklings.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Mama duck

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, spring, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, ducklings, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Mama duck, single mother duck on April 26, 2014| 6 Comments »

Female Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) raise their ducklings as single Moms, which must be pretty tough when you have so many offspring to look after. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the male Hooded Merganser duck abandons his mate once she begins incubating eggs and it’s not known if they reunite the following season.

Last year, when the level of water at my local marsh was pretty low and there seemed to be lots of snapping turtles, most of the ducklings did not survive. After a lot of construction at the marsh, water levels are higher and I am hoping that things will be a little easier on the duck families.

I don’t know how old these ducklings are, but they appear to be tiny—even adult Hooded Mergansers are pretty small. A family of Hooded Mergansers was spotted earlier this week and I suspect that this is the same one, so they may be a week or so old.

I was not able to get very close to the ducks and the conscientious Mama duck started swimming away as soon as she sensed my presence early yesterday morning. You can see details in the first two shots, which are cropped a fair amount, but I included a final shot, which shows more of the setting, because I love the beautiful ripples in the water.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Gull chasing Hooded Merganser duck

Posted in Autumn, Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, birds in flight, Cameron Run, Canon 50D, Canon 70-300mm telephoto zoom lens, duck, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, Potomac River, Ring-billed Gull on December 2, 2013| 19 Comments »

Do seagulls hunt ducks? That’s a crazy question, but that was the first thing that came to mind when a Ring-billed Gull (Larus delawarensis) started aggressively chasing a Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) with what appeared to be hostile intent.

I was walking along Cameron Run, a tributary of the Potomac River, when the scene started to unfold in front of me. The gull flew toward the dusk with its legs extended, like it was trying to snatch the duck out of the water. The duck immediately started bounding across the water (as you can see in the third photos) in an effort to escape the gull, but did not take to the air. When the duck got close to the bank of the stream, the gull turned away and left the duck in peace.

Was this merely a cranky gull or maybe a bully? Was it a territoriality thing? All I know is that it provided me a fascinating moment as I treated to a brief interaction between these two very different species of birds.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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Juvenile Hooded Merganser

Posted in Art, Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged Canon 50D, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, juvenile Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on July 23, 2013| 7 Comments »

Although I tend to use either my macro or my shorter telephoto zoom lens most at this time of the year, yesterday I decided to walk around with my longest zoom (135-400mm) and was happy about that decision when I encountered this juvenile Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus).

When I first saw it, the duck was sitting on a semi-submerged log in the beaver pond of my local marshland pond, basking in the sun. I expected for the duck to be part of a group, but it appeared to be alone.

I guess that I got a little too close, because the juvenile duck then slipped quietly off the log into the brown, muddy water of the pond and swam away a short distance. I like the concentric ripples in this shot of the duck slowly paddling away.

I backed off and continued to observe the young duck, which decided to take advantage of being in the water to do a little grooming. After submerging itself, the duck rose up out of the water to dry off. The duck flapped its wings and I clicked my shutter and got this shot.

There is a kind of playful feel to this shot that I really like. Somehow the duck reminds me of a friendly little dragon in this shot, with its feathers looking almost like scales and its wings and tail in an unusual position. I almost expected it to breathe a tiny burst of fire.

Maybe I should name the little duck “Puff.”

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hooded Merganser ducklings

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon Rebel XT, ducklings, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on June 4, 2013| 6 Comments »

Walking along the boardwalk at my local marsh yesterday morning, scanning the surface of the water, I noticed some movement and suddenly a female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) with eight little ducklings swam into view. They were pretty far away in the shallow water, amidst the plants that have sprung up, but I managed to get a few shots of the family. The female Hooded Merganser ducks cares for the young alone, unlike the Canada Geese families that I see at the marsh, in which both parents are present.

I was heartened to see this group of ducklings, because I had heard from others at the marsh of dwindling number of ducklings earlier in the season. I have no idea how many of these little ones will survive—they seem so small and vulnerable (not to mention cute) and the snapping turtles are huge in comparison.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hooded Merganser nesting box, the sequel

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Canon Rebel XT, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, nesting box, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on March 25, 2013| 7 Comments »

This past weekend I was fortunate enough to see a female Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) again enter a nesting box at my local marshland park. If you want to see some photos of my first such incident, check out my previous posting.

It is proving to be quite a challenge to capture this fascinating encounter in photographs, even with my camera trained on the nesting box. I think I get my best shots when the female chooses to land on the box prior to entering it. At that moment, the subject is relatively stationary and I can refocus my camera on the duck itself, and not on the box. When she flies into and out of the box, my camera and lens have trouble maintaining focus and stopping the action, even at exposures of 1/1000 and greater.

She paused a moment when exiting and I was able to get a shot with her head sticking out of the nesting box. I also got a photo of her flying out of the box, which is pretty blurry, but I thought the shadow was pretty cool.

The last two shots are aspirational shots for me—they give you an idea of what I am trying to shoot, even if I have not yet been able to do so successfully.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Father-to-be

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, Winter, tagged Canon Rebel XT, duck, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on March 22, 2013| 4 Comments »

This male Hooded Merganser duck (Lophodytes cucullatus) flew away when his mate entered the nesting box (as shown in my posting yesterday), but I was able to get these shots when he was swimming around beforehand.

I am also including a shot from earlier this month when a male was displaying for a female. He would periodically throw back his head back and make the strangest sound, almost like a frog. The sound is so unusual that you may enjoy checking it out at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology site, where you should click on the button that says “Male display.”

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Is there room in that box for me?

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Winter, tagged Canon Rebel XT, ducks, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, Huntley Meadows Park, Lophodytes cucullatus, nesting box, Sigma 135-400mm telephoto zoom lens on March 21, 2013| 5 Comments »

I have often wondered if birds actually used the nesting boxes scattered throughout my local marshland park and yesterday I got a definitive response when I saw two female Hooded Merganser ducks separately go into one of the boxes.

As I was looking across the beaver pond, one of my favorite spots for taking photos, a Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus) couple flew by and landed in the water. They were out of the reach of my lens at that moment, but a fellow photographer alerted me to the fact that the couple had been using a nesting box that was somewhat closer to where I was standing.

I set up my tripod and trained my 135-400 telephoto lens on the nesting box and waited. Eventually the couple swam behind a cattail patch and came into view near the box. Without warning, the female lifted off and flew straight into the box. It happened so fast that I was not able to get off a shot. A short while later, the male took off.

I continued to wait, confident that the female would eventually have to emerge through the hole in the nesting box. As I was watching and waiting, a bird landed on the roof of the nesting box, as you can see in the second photo. I did not immediately realize that it was another female Hooded Merganser, but I had the presence of mind to take some shots.

She seemed uncertain about whether or not she should go into the box and tried to peer into it, as you see in the first photo. Satisfying herself that everything was ok, she flew into the box, which by now was getting a little crowded. My photos of the entry were completely blurry.

I waited some more and eventually one of the females flew out and I managed to get the third shot. I was hoping that she would linger with her head sticking out of the box before she started flying, but that didn’t happen. I waited for about 45 minutes longer for the second female to exit the box and finally my patience gave out.

The incubation period for the eggs that the female presumably is laying in the box is about a month, so I will keep returning to this location, and with a little luck will be able to see some ducklings.

Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Male Hooded Merganser

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, tagged Alexandria VA, Cameron Run, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser duck, Lophodytes cucullatus on January 24, 2013| 2 Comments »

I was outdoors a lot this past weekend enjoying the beautiful weather and managed to catch a glimpse of a pair of Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus). As is usually the case, they headed in the opposite direction as soon as they perceived my presence.

I was able to get a couple of clear shots of the male (the female kept ducking under the water). I especially like the duck’s reflection in the water, which looked almost turquoise. and the ripples on the surface of the water.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Running water takeoff

Posted in Birds, Inspiration, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter, tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, ducks, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, Lake Cook, Lophodytes cucullatus, running takeoff, takeoff on January 10, 2013| 4 Comments »

I stumbled upon a pair of Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) at Lake Cook, a tiny urban lake, shortly after I photographed a Belted Kingfisher this past weekend. As soon I spotted them, they also became aware of my presence and immediately took evasive action. In most cases in the past, that has meant that they started swimming away. This time they seemed to have decided that more decisive action was needed and they immediately took off.

Fortunately my camera was already in my hands and the settings were about the right ones for the situation. When I started photographing birds, one of the more experienced birders whom I met recommended keeping the camera set for burst mode and that’s where I keep it most of the time now. Occasionally that means I shoot off a few extra exposures unintentionally when my trigger finger is a little heavy, but sometimes it lets me get an exposure I might not have gotten otherwise. Now, let me be clear that my almost ancient Canon Rebel XT is not a professional DSLR, so burst mode means about three frames a second, which worked out this time.

I fired off a half-dozen frames as the two ducks, a male and a female, took off from the water and I am pretty pleased with the results. It looks like the ducks get a running start on the water before they take to the air. The photo of the male duck that I featured at the start is the second one in the chronological sequence, but I thought it was the most interesting in showing the little water “explosions” as the ducks skipped across the surface. The rest are pretty much self-explanatory. I especially like the way that the heads flatten out into more aerodynamic shapes as the ducks start flying and the reflections are pretty nice. A couple of the shots are cropped to show only the male duck, because his position happened to bemore interesting than that of the female in the image (no discrimination intended).

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Hooded Merganser Ducks

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, Portraits, wildlife, tagged canon rebel, ducks, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks on January 6, 2013| 6 Comments »

I generally have had difficulties getting good photos of Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus), because of their size, speed, and skittishness. These little ducks also hang out in different bodies of water than the Mallard Ducks and Canada Geese that I regularly feature and the little streams where they can be found are pretty inaccessible and offer obstructed views of the water.

I did manage yesterday to finally get some decent photos of a Hooded Merganser couple together and separately. I ended up having to walk and down the banks of a stream repeatedly as the ducks changes directions every time they seemed to sense me (and eventually flew away) The first photo is probably my favorite, but I like all three of them.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Mixed couple

Posted in Birds, Humor, Nature, Photography, wildlife, tagged Alexandria VA, Anas platyrhynchos, Cameron Run, Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, duck, Hooded Merganser, Lophodytes cucullatus, mallard, mallard duck on January 5, 2013| 4 Comments »

As I was out shooting today, I was happy to encounter Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus) a couple of times, They are the coolest-looking ducks in my opinion (although Wood Ducks are in the running too). It’s a real challenge to get good shots of them, because they are small, fast, and skittish. I would love to find myself in a position like Phil Lanoue, a fellow blogger and incredible photographer, who recently photographed a Hooded Merganser duck coming in for a landing next to him (check out his blog posting).

I’m still going through my photos, but this one jumped out at me. It shows two duck couples swimming in formation. What is unusual is that one of the pairs appears to me a male Mallard and a female Merganser. Oh, I know that some of you are thinking that such a relationship could never work, but true love always finds a way.

I can only imagine what their children will look like.

Mixed couple

Mixed couple (click for higher resolution view)

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved

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Ducks in the wild

Posted in Birds, Landscape, Nature, Photography, tagged Canon 55-250mm zoom lens, Canon Rebel XT, fall, Hooded Merganser, Hooded Merganser ducks, reflection on November 12, 2012| 1 Comment »

It was a beautiful weekend and I did a lot of walking. I came across an assortment of ducks, including some Hooded Merganser ducks (Lophodytes cucullatus). Most of my photos of them were from a good distance away, so I may need to work on them before I post them. This image was in such a beautiful setting that I thought I’d post it first. (It looks better if you click on it and see it in greater resolution.) I took this photo from a little bridge looking down on the ducks, which is why the heads do not have the distinctive look associated with Hooded Merganser ducks. I’m making the call on the identification on basis of the color and markings, but would welcome a correction if I am mistaken.

Hooded Merganser ducks in a stream

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.

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