Wednesday, January 4, 2012

Ducks Unlimited!

I had about an hour of time to devote to birding today, so I decided to head to Lakeview Marina and Bridges Bay Park on the Detroit River (both really close to home) to see what ducks are around.  There were lots of ducks, but mostly hugging the shore of Peche Island.  I am still learning ducks, so I snapped a bunch of photos to analyze when I got home.  Most of the pictures are a bit fuzzy due to the ducks being pretty far from shore and my largest lens is a 70-300mm (that, and I didn't bring a tripod...I tend to take fuzzy photos at 300mm).  I am also getting really frustrated with my cheap binoculars....I am considering emailing Pelee Wings to pick up a pair before spring.  Anyway, here are a few pictures from this afternoon :)

Mallards...the only ducks that were close.

Common Merganser...I really love this picture :)  I had to sharpen it a bit.

Common Goldeneye!  Life bird!  Love that you can see his golden eye!


Male and Female Common Goldeneyes.
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Gotta love Gulls!  This Herring Gull was really loud!

House Sparrows.  I love the two in "action" :)

5 comments:

  1. Very nice pictures Tiffanie. I enjoyed reading about your Grandfather's influence on your love for birds. I look forward to following your adventures.

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  2. Oh... I'm always curious what other people use for camera/lens?

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  3. Thanks Brian! I spent many hours as a kid pouring over his Birds of Canada but didn't start taking birdwatching seriously until summer of 2010. I am enjoying the variety of God's creation :). As for my camera, I have a Nikon D3000 with an 18-55 lens and a 70-300 lens ( the lens was an early Christmas gift from my husband). I was excited to read your profile and see you were a Christian!

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  4. Hi Tiffanie,
    This post is a great reminder for me to get out there and see some ducks.
    Great shots and I love that flight shot, too. Great stuff!

    Vortex binoculars have THE BEST warranty.
    From the Pelee Wings Nature Store site: "VORTEX offers an amazing no-fault warranty all of their binoculars. (If in the excitement of the moment your bin or scope is dropped and smashed, no problem, they’ll replace it at no charge!). We stock their Razor, new Viper HDs, new Talon HDs, Diamondback, Crossfire, and Vanquish models. All Vortex pricing has come down in 2011 thanks to the increasing value of our Cdn currency. "

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  5. Thanks for the tip Karen...I picked up a pair of Vortex Talons 8X42!

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