I didn't get many new photographs from the photo blind itself, but these two wood ducks were in a tree on my way back from the blind. I don't think I've ever seen ducks in a tree like that before, but I'm pretty new to birding. I didn't have the greatest light. I had to work on this one quite a bit to get it to work decent.
Posted by John Williams on March 21, 2010 at 10:33 PM
Nice catch! I love wood ducks, and the pair in a tree is pretty cool. There may be a bit of a yellow cast, and the female looks like she has a tad of chromatic aberration/fringing.
Yeah, she does have some aberration there, more noticeable in the jpeg, but I should have still dealt with it. This photo has a lot going against it. It took some pretty radical processing to bring it around. The 100-400 doesn't take too kindly to the 1.4x extender.
Posted by Craig Strand on March 22, 2010 at 12:29 AM
A couple of minor nits as noted but still to catch a PAIR in a tree is rare. I too was surprised (and still am) when I see a pair of ducks in a tree.... it really looks out of place. My Audubon book states that the wood ducks actually nest in trees they look for old nesting cavities, often left from pileated woodpeckers, from 5 to 50 ft above ground. Often they select sites close to or trees overhanging water, when the ducklings fledge they just drop to the ground and follow mom to water. Nest can be up to 1 mile from water.
An interesting bird to read up on..... NO Charge for the info. Ryan!
David, since the blind is free to reserve, I'd say it can be worth it. It has a nice 180 degree view and several different mini-habitats, a shallow wading area, deeper water, reeds, trees, bushes, etc. There wasn't a whole lot of activity the morning I went, and I'm sure some days are better than others. I guess it is sort of like fishing, I enjoyed my time in it even though most of the birds I did photograph that morning were along the trail and not at the blind.
I'll very likely do it again sometime. You can reserve the blind on a first come, first served basis on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from either dawn until Noon, Noon until dusk, or all day.
It seems to be fairly popular as I've seen several photographers out there, and when I inquired about open dates, at least one of the weekend days were always reserved out quite a few weeks.
I don't have a great birding lens, I use my 100-400L and occasionally add the 1.4x extender, which makes things a little difficult with the manual focus and reduced light at f/8. That being said, I think on a good day, you'd probably have several birds to photograph where a 400mm would work well, especially with a newer camera like a 7D where you had some more room to crop than my 40D.
Obviously, a 600 f/4 and a 1.4x would open up a lot more possibilities, or a 300 f/2.8 with a 2x would be very effective too.
Discussion
9 repliesCanon 40D 100-400L @ 400 +1.4x converter
ISO 800 f8.0 1/180s
An interesting bird to read up on..... NO Charge for the info. Ryan!
FIND OUT MORE ON WOOD DUCKS and other birds here -
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/id
Ryan, I think it's a great catch because it's so unusual. I've wondered about that blind...was it worth it? Or are you still too far away?
I'll very likely do it again sometime. You can reserve the blind on a first come, first served basis on Wednesdays, Saturdays and Sundays from either dawn until Noon, Noon until dusk, or all day.
It seems to be fairly popular as I've seen several photographers out there, and when I inquired about open dates, at least one of the weekend days were always reserved out quite a few weeks.
I don't have a great birding lens, I use my 100-400L and occasionally add the 1.4x extender, which makes things a little difficult with the manual focus and reduced light at f/8. That being said, I think on a good day, you'd probably have several birds to photograph where a 400mm would work well, especially with a newer camera like a 7D where you had some more room to crop than my 40D.
Obviously, a 600 f/4 and a 1.4x would open up a lot more possibilities, or a 300 f/2.8 with a 2x would be very effective too.