Dabbling ducks, Constitution Gardens Pond, DC

November 04, 2015

Ducks have been arriving in DC over the past few weeks, and with the autumn leaves still offering pleasant reflected colours on the water, I headed to the Constitution Gardens Pond for first light. Despite the pond's modest size, it always attracts a mixed of dabbling and diving ducks - this morning more noteworthy birds included Gadwall, American Wigeon, Northern Shoveler and Ring-necked Duck.

The pond is in a predominantly east-west orientation, with a little island that one can walk onto via a short wooden bridge. Shooting from this island with the ground pod, I was aiming for eye-level front-lit scenes. Not so this morning... the "more interesting" birds were hanging-out on the eastern side of the island where they were mostly back lite. If this continues to be their favoured "hang-out" then evenings will be a better option. That said, I was happy with a few shots while the sun was still quite low.

American Wigeon, Constitution Gardens Pond, DCAmerican Wigeon, Constitution Gardens Pond, DC

Northern Shoveler, Constitution Gardens Pond, DCNorthern Shoveler, Constitution Gardens Pond, DC

And then in the far western corner, a drake Gadwall and Mallard were posing together.

Gadwall and Mallard, Constitution Gardens Pond, DCGadwall and Mallard, Constitution Gardens Pond, DC

 

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