Mallards, Grebes, and a Muskrat Too!

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Mallards, Grebes, and a Muskrat Too!

April 8, 2018 by Andrew McLachlan

Mallard Drake Preening
Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm lens @ 460mm
ISO 500
f8 @ 1/1250 sec.

We had a great group of participants for yesterday’s sold out Teaching Moment Photographic Workshop – “Waterfowl of Humber Bay Park.” It was a chilly start to the day with temperatures slightly below freezing and thin ice over some of the smaller, quieter ponds. The weather never really improved as the forecasted sunny skies turned cloudy and a brisk wind kicked up. Yes we had icy, wintry conditions for waterfowl photography in April! That’s gotta be a first! The weather conditions certainly worked against us and did keep away some of the commonly seen waterfowl species of Humber Bay. Nonetheless the group was patient and some excellent opportunities did present themselves. Early in the day we had a Mallard drake preening in the pond beside the boardwalk bathed in lovely early morning light. Although Mallards are a very common species they do make great subjects for folks wishing to improve their photographic skills in all aspects from preening to head shots to flight. Today’s post features a few of my favourite images from the day.

Mallard Hen Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm lens @400mm
ISO 500
f8 @ 1/500 sec.

As the morning progressed we were faced with the previously mentioned increasing cloud cover, which was very undesirable, but our perseverance paid off in spades when one of the resident Red-necked Grebes came into point-blank range just as the sun broke through a small opening in the cloudy sky.

Red-necked Grebe
Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm Lens @ 490mm
ISO 500
f8 @ 1/1000 sec.

All along the Lake Ontario shoreline there is an incredible abundance of Ring-billed Gulls as well. Often very tame, they also make excellent subject matter for practicing head shots and watching for the good head angles too…not too mention they really are a beautiful bird 🙂

Ring-billed Gull
Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm lens @ 450mm
ISO 500
f5.6 @ 1/5000 sec.

We were also able to focus our attention on other subjects besides waterfowl as there was a very busy Muskrat swimming around collecting material for it’s home. The cloud cover actually was a blessing here for casting an even light over the scene.

Muskrat
Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm lens @ 500mm
ISO 500
f8 @ 1/400 sec.

Towards the end of the 4 hour workshop the cloud cover had become very thick and we decided to work our way back over to the boardwalk ponds. On our way back I quickly alerted the group to the landscape photo opportunity that presented itself to us. Trees on the distant shore of the pond were casting a lovely abstract-type reflection on the pond as the breeze rippled the water’s surface.

Reflected Trees in Pond
Nikon D500, Nikkor 200-500mm lens @ 250mm
ISO 500
f11 @ 1/250 sec.

For flight action we enjoyed a brief period of Mallards flying back and forth during the sunlit conditions of the early morning. Working in manual mode ensured proper exposure as the mallard drake flew across differing backgrounds, in even and unchanging light.