If you have been following our Blog for some time you may realize that we are trying to photograph and document the many species of ducks that inhabit our area. This past weekend we visited Erie for a day of fun. Our day began with a visit to Erie Downs to put a little money on the horses. On a positive note we had a great day at the races and had a few horses that cooperated nicely with our wagering. On a not so positive note, looks like I will still need full time employment and a tax shelter won't be required to hide our winnings.
No trip to Erie would be complete without a trip out to the Peninsula but today we decided to try something a bit different. We decided to go up the tower at Bayfront and check out the Peninsula from across the bay. If you ever get the chance, pay the 3 bucks and go up the tower at Bayfront. You will not be disappointed. Once you get to the top via an elevator, you'll learn a lot about Lake Erie. We were shocked to learn that there are over 400 ship wrecks in this Great Lake. One can only shut your eyes and imagine the action that took place during the War of 1812. Lot's of history here for certain!
As we circled the top of the tower looking out over the bay we couldn't help but notice some ducks gathered below in the bay. After returning to ground level we needed to check these quackers out. There was one duck in particular that caught our eye. After some time and a good bit of patience we finally got this duck within range of the 100-400mm. We were thrilled to get some decent pictures of this new species which we later identified as the Lesser Scaup. The Greater Scaup is so similar that it is difficult to see the difference. Both have the Golden eye and the blue gray bill with the black nail at the tip. The attraction for these diving ducks happen to be the Zebra Mussells. Unfortunately the Zebra Mussells are loaded with environmental nasties which doesn't make for a real desirable staple for the Scaups.
3 comments:
They are beautiful ducks and you captured them well. I can seldom get close enough to them to take stills except at Middle Creek and then I have to use the 500mm with 1.4 or 2x extender.
A stunning pose, Tom!
Nice work! Love the blue water.
I've read that the zebra mussels are the reason that the lake water is clear and that smallmouth bass population have increased.
Poor 'Ol Willard is a land lubber, thats why he never gets close-up scaup shots :)
I always get my scaup shots from the boat, it's the only way I can get close enough.
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