[Leica] IMG: February is duck month

[gpinkcp at msn.com (Gary Pinkerton)]

These are incredibly beautiful, love'em all.
 

> Date: Sat, 23 Feb 2013 19:44:07 -0800
> From: wildlightphoto at earthlink.net
> To: lug at leica-users.org
> Subject: [Leica] IMG: February is duck month
> 
> For most of the month I've concentrated on the central valley's anatidae 
> (ducks, geese and swans). Before long spring duck migration will be upon 
> us (it has already begun for Sandhill Cranes and hummingbirds). The male 
> ducks have their brightest plumage of the year and toward the end of 
> hunting season they've learned where people are benign. The month started 
> for me with a trip to Chico California; several good duck refuges along 
> the way provided opportunities for photos of Snow Goose, Greater 
> White-fronted Goose and American Wigeon:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/sngoos06.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/gwgoos06.html
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/amwige01.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/amwige02.html
> 
> between duck refuges I also spotted a Ferruginous Hawk, a winter visitor 
> to the area:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/accipitridae/fehawk05.html
> 
> (all the above photos: R8/DMR, Leitz Novoflex 560mm f/6.8 Telyt)
> 
> I was diverted from ducks mid-month by reports of Rock Wrens at nearby 
> Folsom Lake. The Rock Wren is a species I have very few adequate photos of 
> so I spent a couple of weekends tracking this bird down:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/troglodytidae/rowren01.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/troglodytidae/rowren02.html
> 
> (Rock Wren: R8/DMR, 280mm f/4 APO-Telyt-R, 2x APO-Extender-R)
> 
> And to finish the month I ducked out at Colusa National Wildlife Refuge. 
> The male ducks are easy to distinguish from each other:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/citeal04.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/gwteal03.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/nopint02.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/noshov05.html
> 
> Female ducks are more difficult to identify but the details in the bills 
> reveal their secret identities. The Northern Shoveler has a big dorky bill:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/noshov04.html
> 
> The Northern Pintail's bill is uniformly (or nearly so) dark:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/nopint05.html
> 
> and the Gadwall's bill is yellow-and-black mottled:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/gadwal06.html
> 
> Another bird which can be identified by the bill is the Ross's Goose. This 
> species is very similar to the Snow Goose (first link in this post) but 
> has a smaller bill which lacks the black "lips" of the Snow Goose:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/rogoos01.html
> 
> Something spooked the Ross's Goose flock and they all left in a flurry of 
> wings and water spray:
> 
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/rogoos02.html
> 
> (R8/DMR, 280mm f/4 APO with and without extenders)
> 
> All comments welcome.
> 
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
> 
> 
> 
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