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| TITLE: | Mallard duck flying low over calm water, with reflection
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| INFO: | "Three weeks on from the previous images of the 'martin murdering Mallard' and another morning in the Goosander Hide in early September, with lovely conditions of good light and almost mirror-calm water - and water mostly clear of scum, weed and feathers!!.
The Sand Martins had all left the nesting-bank by now, but there were still a couple flying around nearby and many more further away. I'd come to the hide because Kingfisher had been landing more on the various perches in front of the hide, though I wanted to get some shots of one in flight low over the calm water, and a Black-headed Gull had been patrolling regularly past the hide and occasionally plunge-diving for fish. Also the chance of heron or egret flying over the water. Well, Kingfisher came in and perched, and Black-headed Gull came in and plunge-dived, both giving me some good images ((though I missed my Kingfisher flight shots...). A short while later during a quiet spell I saw this Mallard duck flying directly in towards the nesting-bank. I had plenty of time to get on to it, get focus, and then fired away as it braked and landed a little way out in the water, and had a good selection of images with an almost mirror-like reflection (note its odd-shaped head in this reflection though!). It then swam directly towards the nesting-bank shore, looking at it intently, and then came ashore, still looking around - I'm convinced that this was that very same 'martin murdering Mallard' in the previous images! - and that she was still regularly checking out the nesting-bank to see if there were any more easy meals to be had. Well, not any more this season, missy! " August 2011 (Goosander Hide) |
| TECH: | Nikon D700, Nikkor 200-400mm f4 zoom lens at 330mm, ISO 720, f5.6, 1/2000 sec.
Hide shelf platform with ball head. Cropped image about 30% of frame from horizontal image. |
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