The largest number of wintertime visitors to the refuge appears to be the ducks. When we visited this past January, they estimated that there were over 50,000 ducks at the refuge. The refuge gets several species of ducks, which we are still learning to identify.
Northern Pintail in a frequently observed orientation
Northern Pintail
Ring-necked Ducks
Northern Shovelers were often seen feeding in tight clusters.
Mallards were fairly common.
I caught this Mallard as he was ducking his head under the surface to bathe.
American Wigeon
Lots of ducks (mostly Mallards) and Snow Geese were feeding in this grain field. Something would startle them and they would all "explode" into flight.
You've got a good reach with your lens. What camera and lens are you using? I always love your photos! Thanks so much for sharing.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment Russ!
ReplyDeleteMost of the images on this latest trip were taken with a Canon 7D and a Canon 100-400mm telephoto zoom lens. At the long end, this gives me an angle of view equivalent to a 640mm telephoto lens on a 35mm film or full-frame digital SLR. Of course some of the images were further cropped in post processing. A few of the wider angle images were taken using a Canon Rebel XTi and a Canon 17-55mm zoom lens.
Art, thanks for the detailed information. I really appreciate that. I've toyed with the idea of getting a long lens for my Nikon, but haven't done it. I shoot a lot with my little Panasonic Lumix which has an 18X zoom. I like the ease of using it, and it's light weight, compared to my Nikon D5000 and lens & bag.
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