Black-bellied Whistling Ducks

Harryb

Hi you'll

Last year one of the big events at the Wetlands were a pair of Black-bellied Whistling Ducks who hatched 10 ducklings


Unfortunately by the end of the season only one parent duck and one duckling survived. The biggest danger to them was not the gators (who got one of the parents) or the egrets or herons but photographers. Every time the family came to shore to feed and rest they were met by a group of "photographers" rushing towards them with their P&Ss to grab a shot. They had virtually no rest during the daylight hours.

I was speaking to the envionmental honcho of the Wetlands who told me if they came back this year he would close off the cell (pond) of the ducks if they had ducklings. Well they are back, this time at least 6 pairs and hopefully there will be a higher survivor rate if they hatch any ducklings

jwear

all great Harry but that last one is something --wow

ginger_55

Hey, Harry. I LOVE those last two shots!

Were you all rushing them?

I didn't think there were that many photographers where you go in the wetlands. When do they appear, the paparazzi?

I don't see that many where I go. But I go late (ish). I think birders are uh, early birds.

g

ginger_55

I think that last one should be matted and framed and shown at a wildlife show.

g (If I could just afford it, I would, it is on my list of things, but framing is a bit over the top, in the manner of which I speak. I would really show that photo off, it is gorgeous, and different, everyone is out there shooting egrets. I have been working up some from the past.) A night heron, too.

But I don't have any of those things, and that is a gorgeous reflection, composition, etc.

MuskyDude

Just wow, Harry.

Just shows once again that nature has limits. Thanks for sharing the information, and stunning shots. I've never seen ducks like that before.


AJ

Ann McRae

Superb! Cool story, good biology lesson for us all, finished by a piece fo art!
The last is outstanding, and I agree with ginger - it should be framed and sold.

ann

Ric Grupe

Great, Harry.


I really enjoyed these. When you think you have seen everything....just wait for H.B.'s next post!!!

Steve Cavigliano

A very nice set Harry


That last one is mint

Sad story about the ducklings :cry I am amazed that it wasn't because of the gators, herons or egrets I watched 4 Night Herons decimate a brood of ducklings at the Baylands, and it almost made me ill I am amazed that any of these little guys make it to adulthood :uhoh

Steve

Harryb

jwear wrote:

all great Harry but that last one is something --wow

Thanks Jeff for your comments. I appreciate you taking the time to reply.

Yuri Pautov

Harry!
What a charming serial of photos!
These pairs look so touching...
Spasibo,
Yuri

Harryb

Hey Ginger,

Glad you liked the shots. I'm pretty happy with the last one and it will be one of my pics in the running for wall space. Our house is just about completely decorated and our designer wants to fill at least one wall with my pics. We just have to decide which pics go on up.

I was not one of the fools rushing up to the ducks. Normally when I go out to the Wetlands I'm alone except for other nature shooters or birders. The highest number of visitors to the wetlands in one day so far has been 45 folks. When the ducklings were hatched word go out unfortunately and folks broke out their P&S with the 3x zoom and came out. The only way they could get a shot was to get in close. This meant they had to rush up to the shore and click away as the family rushed away to deeper water. It was not unusal to see 6-8 individuals on the road waiting for the ducks to come in to feed and when they did the fools would come running up and the ducks paddled away frantically.

Harryb

MuskyDude wrote:

Just wow, Harry.

Just shows once again that nature has limits. Thanks for sharing the information, and stunning shots. I've never seen ducks like that before.


AJ

Thanks AJ. The first time I saw them I didn't know what the heck they were. Thats why I bought Sibley's book. I go out see something, take a pic and say "what the heck is that"? Then I go home and find out what I shot.

Seamus

Hey Harry, 2 & 4 are special , and a good story to go with it. I didn't know that egrets fed on other birds. I see so few birds of prey here that I tend to discount them. All of the birds I see survive on grubs and worms.


I'm keeping an eye on the local ducks and swans but there's no sign of any chicks yet.

Again, great series and definitely fit for the wall,

Seamus.

Harryb

Ann McRae wrote:

Superb! Cool story, good biology lesson for us all, finished by a piece fo art!
The last is outstanding, and I agree with ginger - it should be framed and sold.

ann

Thank you very much Ann

Harryb

Ric Grupe wrote:

Great, Harry.


I really enjoyed these. When you think you have seen everything....just wait for H.B.'s next post!!!

Thanks Ric. I'm very lucky to have the variety of wldlife that I do to shoot.

ehughes

Awesome shots Harry, that last one is fantastic

Ed

Harryb

Steve Cavigliano wrote:

A very nice set Harry


That last one is mint

Sad story about the ducklings :cry I am amazed that it wasn't because of the gators, herons or egrets I watched 4 Night Herons decimate a brood of ducklings at the Baylands, and it almost made me ill I am amazed that any of these little guys make it to adulthood :uhoh

Steve

Thanks Steve. I'm sure that the local predators finished off most of the ducklings and I know a gator got the one parent but that was also due to the ducks being chased out of their cover of the plants by the shore by the snapshooters. The environmental honcho for the Wetlands was a tad upset by it and has vowed to prevent it from happening again.

bfjr

Second to last one for me Boss
Never seen one, thanks for posting them

Oh, did you ever get that confusion problem solved :lol4 :hide ??

Harryb

Yuri Pautov wrote:

Harry!
What a charming serial of photos!
These pairs look so touching...
Spasibo,
Yuri

Priviet, Yuri,

Always great gearing from you. Thank you for the kind words.

Rufio220

nice
those are nice. i like the first last best, but wow.

Harryb

Seamus wrote:

Hey Harry, 2 & 4 are special , and a good story to go with it. I didn't know that egrets fed on other birds. I see so few birds of prey here that I tend to discount them. All of the birds I see survive on grubs and worms.


I'm keeping an eye on the local ducks and swans but there's no sign of any chicks yet.

Again, great series and definitely fit for the wall,

Seamus.

Hey Seamus,

They will eat anything they can swallow, pretty much like Andy.
Thanks.

Harryb

ehughes wrote:

Awesome shots Harry, that last one is fantastic

Ed

thank you very much Ed.

BigAl

Great series on a bird in danger.

regards
alan

Harryb

bfjr wrote:

Second to last one for me Boss
Never seen one, thanks for posting them

Oh, did you ever get that confusion problem solved ??

Thanks Ben,

I'm glad that you got to see something new. AS for that confusion problem, there's no resolution yet. The problem is that all you west coast dudes look alike.

Harryb

Rufio220 wrote:

those are nice. i like the first last best, but wow.

Thank you very much Rufio

Harryb

BigAl wrote:

Great series on a bird in danger.

regards
alan

Thanks Alan

Angelo

fantastic shots Harry and I'm happy to see that you take a pro-active part in protecting the habitat. good job

Harryb

Angelo wrote:

fantastic shots Harry and I'm happy to see that you take a pro-active part in protecting the habitat. good job

Hey Angelo,

Great hearing from ya. Thanks for the kind comments.

bfjr

Harryb wrote:

Thanks Ben,

I'm glad that you got to see something new. AS for that confusion problem, there's no resolution yet. The problem is that all you west coast dudes look alike.

Yeah I bet it is
Especially when your 3/4 down on that bottle of "Ripple" and "7Up" or better know as "Champipple" :lol4

Harryb

bfjr wrote:

Yeah I bet it is
Especially when your 3/4 down on that bottle of "Ripple" and "7Up" or better know as "Champipple" :lol4

please!!!!