Harlequin Duck

Gallery: AvianPosted January 4, 2016117 views6 comments

A first year male harlequin duck has been hanging out in a drainage outflow from a small lake in Southern Michigan. I was able to head out there this morning and found him feeding in a patch of open water not too far from shore. This location is so far inland that an arctic pelagic duck seems way out of place. K5 IIs 600mm f5.6 (1/125sec at f11, ISO 400) Levels, Highlights & Shadows, Luminosity Masks on Lights and Midtones, Topaz Detail, Crop for comp................................Jim

Comments

6 comments

Comment posted by Dennis Plank on January 4, 2016 at 6:03 PM

Excellent detail in the duck, Jim, and I really like the look of the water. The angle might bea bit steep, but if it were much shallower you'd lose the nice look of the water. Congratulaions on nailing this local rarity.

devil

Registered on January 28, 2008, 1767 Posts, 23192 Comments

Comment posted by Alberto Patiño on January 4, 2016 at 10:26 PM

Lovely detail on the feathers and the ripples. The wavy reflection of his head is particularly cute, I think. Is the guy alone? Blown off course? I don't know much about ducks (or birds in general) but I take it that he should not be there?

Registered on December 2, 2014, 278 Posts, 1736 Comments

Comment posted by Jerry Marella on January 5, 2016 at 10:54 AM

Duck is really sharp, Jim. Looks like the water was moving and created a lot of interesting reflections.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 142 Posts, 862 Comments

Comment posted by David Schoen on January 5, 2016 at 2:25 PM

Impressive sharpness for a 600 at only 125th in such rough water. Nice reflections and good detail on the duck. The detail view is much better.

Registered on November 6, 2006, 1213 Posts, 4587 Comments

Comment posted by Steve Thompson on January 5, 2016 at 3:48 PM

The detail in the duck is impressive Jim. A lower pov would have been nice but not always possible. Well done!

Registered on August 7, 2014, 125 Posts, 2319 Comments

Comment posted by Hans Overduin on January 7, 2016 at 9:34 AM

Interesting to have this species around. Seen them on Iceland, and they usually only leave the seas for mating. The angle of view could have been a bit lower for my taste, but then again I do not know what was possible and what was not... Nice in any way ! Cheers, Hans

Registered on August 31, 2011, 491 Posts, 3807 Comments