by Jim Hansen
This species used to be one of my major nemeses. They have always swam just out of range of my camera. Last week my wife and I were camped on this pond and there was a group of ruddys engaged in courtship behaviors, which made them quite approachable. Behaviors were fascinating to watch. The males routinely attacked one another, lots of boastful flapping and scooting around quickly on the water. Several times we watched the males do some sort of vibration on the water, which kicked up water droplets and set up high frequency waves on the water surface. I have seen this same thing with ring-necked ducks. Each evening we set up our camp chairs at the edge of the pond to watch "The Ruddy Show". This guy was just strutting his stuff. D800e, 300f4, 1.4tc, 1/200, f5.6, ISO 1600. Thanks for any helpful comments.
Comments
5 commentsLucky to be able to witness their behavior. I like the pose and colors. The water droplets are a nice touch.
I really like the glassy look to the water and the nice contrast between the blue bill and the green background/foregroud. The single focus zone that is surrounded by, what seems to be OOF ripples of the water is a nice effect.
Nice find. Makes me want to pull up a chair.
A good looking dude, Jim. The bright reflections on the waves make for an interesting bg pattern, but hte Ruddy still stands out nicely.
I've never seen one of these in real life and I can't believe the color of that beak
A very nice capture with great detail and the water droplets are a good bonus in this shot. Well done, Jim!
Jim,
Nice catch. Would you consider burning the west and east edges of the catchlight, and dodging the center to make it more prominent? A tiny suggestion for a wonderful image.