by Gary Minish
I saw a pair of these (I'll post the female later) in a salt water pond in the tide flats at Valdez, Alaska. I hadn't seen a duck quite like this in our location before so I took the shot to see if I could identify it. From what I could find online it appears to be a Gadwall. All the markings fit but the only thing that doesn't seem to match is the beak. It has as much orange as black and most of the photos and descriptions I could find said it should be dark gray to black on the male. If anybody can make a positive ID I would appreciate it.
As for the photo:
It was very bright sunlight and I was shooting shots of nesting seagulls before I came upon these two so I was set at ISO-100 and f8.0 in order to keep the shutter speed under the max of 1/4000 on this camera and not blow out the bright white seagulls. With these birds I could have opened the aperture to 6.3 and got better isolation of the subject had I been thinking more clearly but I was focusing on getting a few shots before they swam away too far. Since my primary purpose was to identify them I did turn on the 2X digital "Clear Image" zoom for a couple shots of both the male and female. This is one of those shots. On the computer, I also cropped about 17% more for composition.
Sony a6000, SEL-55210 @ 210, 2X digital zoom, ISO-100, f8.0, 1/1600, hand held.
Comments
5 commentsGary, it is indeed a Gadwall, a duck famously found in Valdez, usually at the pools just as you enter town. Most reliable place in Alaska to find Gadwall. Good detail for digital zoom and crop. A very nice shot.
I'll be down Valdez way later this summer; maybe we can meet for a coffee of something?
Great detail in the large version and grats on getting a lifer
Jim, Thanks for the confirmation. That shows you how much attention I've paid to the local migratory birds! I've never had the right equipment to get decent shots of the smaller birds (got lots of swan shots though!) so I haven't been as observant of species and details as I should have been. I have a photographer friend who has recently gotten serious about birding so it's beginning to rub off on me though. I'll be more observant in the future for sure
Yup, sure looks like a gadwall to me. Nice image. I like the inclusion of a bit of habitat. Nice pose, and I like the clear water. I am used to seeing this species in sort of mucky ponds. Good job!
Nice composition and good detail in the Gadwall, Gary. I like the neat green water as a bg.