You need to meet me in Washington next year. Got a spot I found with shovelers, mallards, gadwall, and the mythical Cinnamon Teal!
You wouldn’t even need a long range lens. Maybe I just need to invest in a decent camera.
I would love to spend some time in the coast chasing sea ducks, that’s on my bucket list someday with both gun and camera.
Tray I was so certain that you had some great looking shoveler shots lurking in your inventory I was planning to bet you would post some today yet . obvious you love waterfowl And they admire your work Why else are they always posing and looking their best from near and far Some years ago Myself plus a friend and his Dad spent a Sat crusing the local area hunting ducks that where migrating north .No guns just binos and cameras and spotting scopes .We saw 20 to 25 different species of ducks that day At one point we parked and walked back a logging road to a large size pond There we flushed a flock of Gadwall It may have been 30 to 50of them roosting on the water. He told me several times during the rest of our day how it as the largest number of Gadwall he had ever seen in DUCK one group in his life He was n his late 60.s a the time And his DAD Himself and his son HAD SPENT THEIR ENTIRE LIFE DUCK HUNTING THE SUSQUEHANNA RIVER FROM THE 1940 THE 1980 .S USING A SNEAK BOAT AND HUNDERDS OF THE OLD WODEN BLOCK DECOYS THAT WHERE SOUS AT THAT TIME .So someone that had 6 decades of hunting in some of the most admired time that ever was known for ducking on the North America continent So when the man told me that I had showed him the largest flock of Gadwall that he had ever seen in his life time I was real pleased with being able to do it .Sadly they are all gone now Only their old wooden blocks stand witness to the many experiences those hunters saw .your photography you are showing several generations what you see and record and sharing it with all that want to look It takes a lifetime of study and time spent out in the wild to learn to identify waterfowl on the wing You are growing and interest in that And that interest is a benefit to all those that enjoy seeing critters in the wild even if they are non hunters .
Thanks, there’s a lot of layers to all of this. The one thing with photos is both hunters and non hunters can enjoy, but I really believe that those who have spent time in the marsh have a much higher respect for waterfowl and can appreciate the subtle beauty of the different species, but also understand the work that goes into getting the shots.
I’m lucky to live in one of the premier Waterfowl spots in the county, ducks nest here in high numbers especially in wet years like this one which also leads to good hunting in the fall.
I will say there is definitely a lot less mosquitos in November in the marsh then right now.
