Another Morning

SCraig

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Another gorgeous spring morning at Radnor Lake today. And very welcome it was since it was in the 30's earlier this week. We had a late-season frost Tuesday night that probably killed off a lot of our more delicate flowers but today there was hardly a cloud in the sky and a temperature of about 48 degrees.

Wood Ducks are everywhere around that lake right now, and since they are the prettiest birds we have around here that's not a real hardship in my book ;)

Golden Hour Wood Duck
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Same Duck About 15 Minutes Later
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And His Mate
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A Wren Thinking I Might Have Some Food (or perhaps wondering what I'm doing)
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And The Prerequisite Squirrel (I think this one is of the "Nutter" variety)
2014-04-19-06.jpg
 
I LOVE the reflection on the first one.
 
As already said, lovely symmetry with the reflection in the first one. Great shots, the squirrel shot's pretty cool too, reminds me of Spiderman after a flip :D
 
Wow... you don't seem them two-headed ducks very often! Nicely captured.

I LOVE the reflection on the first one.

As already said, lovely symmetry with the reflection in the first one. Great shots, the squirrel shot's pretty cool too, reminds me of Spiderman after a flip :D

Thanks! The reflection is what I liked about it as well. When I first got there the sun was just coming up and the water was smooth as glass. I saw these two ducks working their way down the bank so I stopped and waited for them to pass through a clear spot in the brush. It was just luck that where the brush was clear the drake made that beautiful reflection but I'll take luck ;)

Squirrels are EVERYWHERE around there. Can't go a dozen steps without seeing one. They are quite shy and tend to run as soon as they are seen though. This one was far enough away that he felt pretty safe sitting on that log.
 
Excellent! 1st and 3rd for me.
 
First and last for me. That squirrel is so good.
 
Nice! I saw a bunch of wood ducks in lab today (Ornithology)...they're beautiful birds!

Cheers!
Jake
 
You know I'm getting envious here Craig ;) :) The first Wood Duck with that light is excellent and love the reflection. Nice to see the second as well, great colours. Nice eye contact with the Wren and they do look like a great little bird, nice details. Jan and Rachel just love squirrels, so darn cute :)

All the best up there Craig, nicely done.

Danny.
 
Love the male wood duck, excellent
Thanks! Much appreciated. They are one of my favorite birds around this area.

Excellent! 1st and 3rd for me.
Thanks, Brian. Glad you enjoyed them.

First and last for me. That squirrel is so good.
Thanks, Ed. I don't shoot squirrels much for some reason. Not sure why though. I love to watch them and have plenty of opportunity while they empty my bird feeder ;)

Nice! I saw a bunch of wood ducks in lab today (Ornithology)...they're beautiful birds!
Thanks, Jake. They really are beautiful birds. By far the most colorful that we have in this part of the country. They are difficult to photograph though because they have both pure white and jet black feathers. I always seem to blow out the white to save the shadows or block up the shadows to save the whites. I seldom manage to get both and these are no exception.

You know I'm getting envious here Craig ;) :) The first Wood Duck with that light is excellent and love the reflection. Nice to see the second as well, great colours. Nice eye contact with the Wren and they do look like a great little bird, nice details. Jan and Rachel just love squirrels, so darn cute :)
Thanks, Danny. No need for jealousy after some of your shots I've seen from NZ-Land ;)

Most of the birds around here have only one or two colors on them, the Wood Duck is really the only one I can think of that has multiple colors. Mallards are similar, but they only have a few colors. In late summer the Wood Duck drakes will molt and look very similar to the hens. The biggest difference between them during that part of the year is in the eyes and the color of their bills. The shot below was taken in August, 2011 and shows both sexes during late summer.

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I was floating around on a boat when I took it and didn't realize that they were Wood Ducks until I got back home.
 
Very interesting to see the colour differences there Scott and excellent info thanks, amazing duck they are. Also love the way the trees and foliage on the banks reflect their colours in the water, that always appeals and great to see the greens reflected with the ripples, very nice water effects.

All the best Scott and sorry about calling you Craig ;) My mistake.

Danny.
 
Very interesting to see the colour differences there Scott and excellent info thanks, amazing duck they are. Also love the way the trees and foliage on the banks reflect their colours in the water, that always appeals and great to see the greens reflected with the ripples, very nice water effects.

All the best Scott and sorry about calling you Craig ;) My mistake.

Danny.

Radnor Lake is a relatively small lake and Wood Ducks generally hang around the banks so getting shore reflections is pretty common. Many of the other duck species that frequent that lake hang out in the middle making it hard to get decent shots of them. I've seen Cinnamon Teals there several times but always too far away for a decent shot.

As to the name, I'm used to it. I've been called Craig for most of my life so it's no big deal. Having three names that can be either first names or last names frequently causes confusion and I have heard every possible combination many times.

Now, since it's 5am, I'm going to go take a shower, get some breakfast at Waffle House, and walk around Radnor Lake again ;)
 

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