Pintails

Needing to go to a conference in the north east, Brett Lewis and I thought we would pay the red squirrels at Formby a visit. Unfortunately the squirrel pox had hit them even worse than we had heard, and we did not see one. Still having time to spare, we visited Martin Mere, and spent some time with the whooper swans. This pair of pintails was one of my favourite shots from the afternoon. This pair was in front of the largest hide, and I was assured all the birds there were wild. This is obviously wild in some strange context, when the man with the barrow full of grain arrived the birds could not get in fast enough.

David

Nikon D200 and 50-500 Sigma at 420mm
1/40th at f8, rated at 640 asa. Near full frame, contrast and levels lifted

Nice portrait of both male and female pintails

Dave

Nice to see the pair, they look a little tense. Still an excellent capture, which I would have been pleased to have taken.

Nice pair - I've never seen one yet. Seems as if the hide was reasonably low, unlike our local ones which are way too high for decent shots.

Nice to get the pair... conditions do not look or sound to have been good so well done on getting this, not good to hear about the squirrels..

nice enviro shot, they do seem a little tense but the duck family always seems that way.

Drew

Thank you for the comments, folks. Drew and Ray, you are right about them being tense. Something happening at the next hide down had sent all the birds down there into the water. These two were alert to see what was going on. Whatever it was, it did me a favour, as the birds put back in to shore right in front of the hide I was occupying - not my usual experience!

David

Lovely enviromental shot, David. It's nice you've captured both a male and female.

Nice record of the trip David.. Did well to get this in the conditions we had.

Brett