Bird Watching: A Weekend With Waterfowl, 1 by linthicum

linthicum wrote:
Thanks everyone, again !!!

Floridian, the lighting was good. This time of year here in Maryland, the sun is a little bit lower in the sky so you have to be careful of shadows. I often had to wait until the waterfowl turned their body toward the sun. And, these photos were taken with my old lenses .... the Sigma 50-500mm.

Grasmussen, you're right, it was a good collection of waterfowl at that one location. We have a web site here in Maryland where serious birders post their sightings. That's quite helpful when you are trying to track down a particular specie. I also photographed a Pied-billed Grebe and a female American Widgeon to add to that list.

Resin, thanks. I knew the one on the left was a Ring-billed Gull but was uncertain of the other two, I only took the photo because of the reflection(s) on the ice. I did, however, take a lot of photos that day of Gulls, to practice on a moving target and primarily to keep warm.

trois, Wood Ducks do tend to be a little nervous. Ducks obviously like water so if you can find a body of water that is mostly frozen but has some open water near the shoreline, one has a better chance to get closer. I assume that you don't have that opportunity in Texas.

meadowbird, you live closer to the site than I do !!!. These photos were taken at Greenbelt Lake, off of Kenilworth Avenue, in Greenbelt. I also visit Lake Artemesia in Berwyn Heights quite frequently but I think that lake is completely frozen over.

UncleGreenthumb, I am on or close to the eastern flyway. I'm about 2 hours from the Atlantic Ocean so many waterfowl migrate along the coastline. Serious birders often go off shore several miles to view birds that seldom, if ever, come inland.

Okay, here is a photo of the Pied-billed Grebe.