On Tuesday the 26th, I got done with all of my meetings at work by a little after three, and decided to head down to Iona Beach to see what was happening there. I got there around quarter after four and that only gave me an hour or so to take photos, as around 5:30 or so it was getting too dark.

Well, I had one of those days. The fowl just didn't seem to want to be anywhere near me. I didn't get any good, clear shots of them. However, this is meant to be more of a journal than a showcase of my best photos, so I'll show you some of what I did get. Besides which, it gives me the opportunity to discuss some birding stuff.

So here's what the view at the outer ponds looked like. A number of ducks and other birds, but mainly pretty far away. This photo actually gives you about as much detail as I would see through my binoculars.

Now, what is interesting to me is that a lot of birding is done at these ranges, viewing about this much detail of the birds. Over the year, I've gotten to where I can actually identify several of the birds in the above photo, which is progress. Of course, there are folks who are much better at that game than I...people who would nail all of the birds in five seconds, if they saw the scene in real life.

Most of the ducks in the front part of the photo are easy. There are three dark-bodied ones, which are female Lesser Scaup. There are five white-bodied ones, of which the two with red heads are male Canvasbacks and the other three are male Lesser Scaup. The three birds in the back right are American Coots (which one may not be able to tell from this photo, but is easy to tell on the original) and the one in the middle back is a male Gadwall. The rest are a little too dicey for me to call.

The duck having the distinction of getting the closest to me that afternoon was a female Lesser Scaup. I like the way the water on the pond was rippling and dark.

In this photo, the four ducks in the rear are all Canvasbacks. The three on the right (white body, red head) are males, and the left one (whitish body, golden head) is female. The two ducks in the front are Northern Shovelers, a male on the left and female on the right.

Here's a closer shot of the same pair of Shovelers, which I caught later. Here the female is on the left.

Canvasbacks and Redheads are biologically very closely related; they're in the same genus (Aythya)...that's about as close as you can get and not be the same species.

As you probably know, Male Canvasbacks are the evil minions of the bird gods; they have the tell-tale glowing red eyes and dark pointy snout. They also make eerie, squeaky hooting noises. If you find a flock of them gathered at your front door late one night, grab your good book* and flee to the nearest church. I never seen Canvasbacks follow someone into a church.

On the other hand, the female Canvasback is a balancing force--although she shows the same overall shape as the male, she has a golden head and neck, a clear indication of her goodness. She also doesn't have those evil red eyes.

I eventually wrenched my attention away from the eternal struggle of good vs. evil, looked around, and found a few other birds. For instance, there was this male Hooded Merganser.

And also this female Bufflehead.

After about an hour, I headed to the inner ponds, where I got a few pictures in the orange light as the sun was setting. Here's a blurry pair of Gadwalls, male on the left.

And my final bird photos of the day were of this pair of Northern Pintails. In this shot, the female is on the left.

And here's another one from later, with the Arthur Laing and Oak Street bridges in the foreground. That dot to the right of the moon is a bird of some sort, but I'm not yet skilled enough to name the species.

I went home content; the birds may have avoided me but the moonrise really made up for it. I shouldn't have been so surprised about the moon, as the next night the eclipse was due. As for the birds, well, some days are just like that.

Happy with what I can get,
Tom

*good book = Sibley's, or Peterson's, or Audubon, etc.