A Few Waterfowl Pics

This past week I came across a huge flock of Canvasbacks. I have never seen so many and they were all mine ..... to photograph.

A diving duck, Canvasbacks have made a tremendous comeback since their numbers dwindled in the 1980's. Traveling at speeds near 70 mph, they are one of the fastest-flying ducks on earth. They are also one of the most beautiful.

Photo #1 is a male Canvasback

Photo #2 is that of the female Canvasback .....

Photo #3 is a small (very small) number of the Canvasbacks present.

Photo #4 - a Mallard drake ...

Mixed in among the Canvasbacks was an occasional Mallard. Although common, I still try to photograph their fluorescent green head ...

Excellent shots Linth!!

All those Canvasbacks must have been an incredible site!

Thanks, Pelle.

Photo #5 ..... the American Widgeon

This was the only other duck I observed in this flock. However, I didn't use my binoculars to scan all of them. I'm certain there were other species. Next time I will spend more time looking. I was just overwhelmed with the number of Canvasbacks.

Really beautiful pictures there -- I'll have to go back to the artificial swamp in our local park and see what I can get.

Photo #6 .... another American Widgeon (or Wigeon).

Photo #7 ..... the Northern Pintail.

Moving on to another birding location, I was able to photograph a few Northern Pintails. They are a very attractive duck, also.

Photo #8 .... a male and female Northern Pintail. Although not rare, I generally don't see large numbers of them.

Photo #9 .... The Greeaat Blue Heron.

A day is never complete without photographing the ever present Great Blue Heron.

Photo #10 .... another Great blue Heron pic.

These beatiful photos make me want to go check out our wildlife preserve. Too bad it is suppose to rain on both of my next days off from work.

And, as I was heading home, I got the best prize of all .... An adult Bald Eagle just off the side of the road. He was feasting on a Tundra Swan that he picked out of a flock of Tundra's in a field on the other side of the road. I cropped the photo quite a bit so as not to offend anyone with the sight. He wasn't concerned one bit with my presence. After taking 100 pics from the car window, I departed and he was still dining.

What a great day you had Linth!!!

Thanks so much for posting the beautiful pics!

Pelle

Really enjoyed this whole series. Well done.
D

Well done indeed! Loved looking at these outstanding pics!

Rose

Your amazing photographs belong in a book.

Thanks everyone for your comments. I forgot to include two other birds that I photographed. One was the Turkey Vulture that lurks around for the remains.

And the other is the American Kestrel. I can usually count on them being at the same place on each of my visits.

I'm waiting for it to warm up this morning. Although the sun is shining 9 degrees is a little too chilly for me and my camera.

More great pics Linth! I can't believe I'm saying this but that Kestrel is just adorable!

Rose

Awesome photos, linth!!

Great series, linthicum. I live far south and I really miss most of the ducks I normally saw further North. Very few come this far South. Most on our flyway are anchored by the great number of milo grain fields in Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle. I guess they prefer food to abundant water.

Amazing pictures, Linthicum!

Excellent pics Linth!

Here's a picture I took in 2004 of a water bird in Jean Lafitte park near New Orleans. I went there the year before Katrina struck to see the wild irises in bloom. It was truly a special place. The hurricane did a lot of damage to the park and swamp.

Wow! It looks like it was beautiful....

Great series.
Miss seeing the ducks, as the lake just froze over in the last couple days. I have never seen so many canvas backs. That must have been something to see! Thanks for sharing.

Linthicum, another great series! I do enjoy the excellent quality of your pictures.

The picture of the female Canvasback surprised me. I'm only accustom to see them in breeding plumage. This is a pair I photographed in Anchorage on May 17, 2007.

Gary

A shot of the same female Canvasback, out of water. A considerable difference in color from your pictures in winter plumage.

Gary

Thanks again, everyone.

Gary, nice photos. That sure is a distinct difference. I went back through some of my photos to see if could find anything close to yours. The closest I could find is this one.

Gary, on another subject .......... Have you ever visited Homer, Alaska ? Have you heard of the "Eagle Lady" - Jean Keene ?

Yesterday, I braved the cold weather. It was 9 degrees when I got up so I waited until it hit 15 degrees before I went out. I was able to take a lot of photos of a few subjects. One of the ducks on the pond was a 'Hooded Merganser'. In fact, a lot of them.

No one seems to give a "hoot" about the ol' American Coot ......

Pied-billed Grebes ........... they spend almost as much time under water as they do above water.

A lone Snow Goose among the Canada Geese ......

A Ruddy Duck ............. lots of them, also

A male Ring-necked Duck ....

Always a lot of Canada Geese.

One more, a Scaup ..... I haven't taken the time to check if it is a Lesser or Greater Scaup.

Homer, AK is 245 highway miles form Anchorage. I haven't been there in about 4 years, and never in the winter when there's a large concentration of Eagles. The "Eagle Lady" is rather infamous, at least as far as the Dept. of Fish & Game is concerned. She has created a large population of Eagles dependent on an artificial food source. She's old and won't be around to beg and barrow the tons of fish need to feed this artificially maintained population to much longer. ADF&G wants to fase out the artificial feeding of Eagles on the Homer Spit. She has created a very controversial situation.

The Alaska Chilkat Bald Eagle Preserve, near Haines, AK, is the annual gathering site of more than 3,500 Bald Eagles, from late October through January. It's the largest natural concentration of Bald Eagles in the world. The main eagle viewing area is along the Chilkat River flats, between mile posts 18 to 24 of the Haines Hwy. I spent Christmas day 1984 photographing eagles in the preserve. Unfortunately, Haines is a full days drive from Anchorage, including 329 miles through the Yukon Territory and British Colombia, Canada to reach the top of the panhandel.


Coots are rare in Anchorage. When one showed up at a local lake last fall, there were daily posting of siting and location, on AKBirding net site.

Gary