Wood Duck (Immature)

(Aix sponsa)

Where: Richmond, VA • Chamberlayne Marsh

Notes: I was reminded on this outing about the importance of patience. Shots like this happen only when I sit and wait. Yes, a folding chair has become part of my photography equipment. Our presence had disturbed things a little as we entered the area; but the birds began to return to their business after only a short while. My partner and I sat quietly at the edge of the wetland. Quietly we watched the two dozen Great Egrets preen and chase fish in the shallows and a couple of immature White Ibis probed the deep mud around them. Then, a Flicker called just behind us and an Egret landed in a distant tree. After about an hour or so a Wood Duck landed in the marsh a short distance to our left. Minutes later, without warning, this nonbreeding male Wood Duck plopped down in the water right in front of us, only about twenty feet away. Fortunately there was a bush in front of me that allowed me to get my lens aimed and focused. By the time this bird came into the clearing I was all set for a shot. I was manually focusing so this moving target gave me a bit of a challenge. But I managed to get three or four decent images captured before he swam underneath some nearby bushes. This encounter reminds me it can sometimes be more fruitful to sit and wait, instead of stomping around in search of a subject.