Eared Grebes, Ruddy & Mandarin

It's been a while since I posted here. The winter had me stuck at home a lot more that I would have liked.

But now it's spring folks, so the Eared Grebes are sporting their breeding plumage. I was also told about a Mandarin Duck that has taken up residence in a Bay Area public park pond - go figure! Probably escaped from a private collector or something. All I know is that I would have had to go to a zoo (which is lousy to shoot at) or to Japan or China to see one had this opportunity not come up. So I drove the 3 hours to see this gem. Anyhow, here ya go!

As always comments & critique are welcome. EXIF data is intact.

= Ed =

1 - 3. Eared Grebes

Oh MY!!!! Never leave again!

What an absolutely gorgeous series! I couldn't pick a favorite of those if my life depended on it.

Ed,
Excellent low angle, IQ and compositions in all of these, Nice Dof as well. Take a Bow... Just a gorgeous series. Congrats and thanks for sharing!!!

my only Nit. and its extremely small is I might consider cloning the specular highlight from #6 in front of the bill and below on the rock at water level.

Dan

You have some beauties here. Keep them coming.

these are all TOP SHOTS. very nice. WOW!!!!

Stunning! Gorgeous shots Ed. If you need a Mandarin fix and don't want to drive all of the way to the bay area there are plenty of them in Sacramento. Mckinley Park near downtown usually has a couple.

Nice!!!!!

Thanks for the kind comments everyone!

Dan <- yeah, that highlight had been bothering me all day, but I was worried about how hard it might be to fix given the reflection. Turned out to be easier than I thought. Thanks for the push!

Chuck <- Who knew? That's a great tip and I thank you for it. I'll definitely make the trip down there. I hope there is access that lets me get low enough for the angles that I enjoy. Thanks again!

= Ed =

Outstanding series .. Great color, detail... all well done !

Ed, I'd take something to lay on but yeah, you can get low angle shots. I took this Wood Duck there.
There are usually around 10-20 pairs of Wood Ducks in spring and summer and in fall I've seen as many as 200 birds. The Mandarin(s) may only be there from October thru April. That's just a guess on my part as I only have shots from this time frame. I have seen as many a 4 Mandarins but usually only one and sometimes 2.
There are a lot of domestics there that get handouts and the Woodies and Mandarins have no problems joining in. I personally don't feed ducks bread but there is always someone around doing it. I used to take buckets of acorns and hen scratch for them.
Anywho, good luck if you go and maybe I'll run into you there someday.

it's a great set Ed .. #2 is my favorite

It's good to see you back in action, Ed, these are all gorgeous.

lovely series, Ed

Thanks again everyone. Chuck <- if we ever get any decent weather you may see me down there next week. Is morning or evening light better there?

= Ed =