Swans of the Shagawa

[Steve Foss]

Hey all:

Pukey weather or not, it was time to get out and give the new equipment a workout today.

These images are from the Shagawa River, as the title suggests, and were shot in the middle of the rain and sleet we'd been getting since late this morning.

I'd been pondering a trip to Monticello to pull in some images of wild swans, because I'd been unable to get images I really liked, but after sitting in the water/muck for three hours along the river and being all packed up and ready to go, I heard a pair of tundra swans hooting on their way in and, sure enough, they landed about 100 yards upriver from the narrow shooting corridor I'd whacked through the cattails.

They saw me right away as they landed because I was standing and ready to walk out, but I recovered myself with full camo and waited, and they eventually moved my way. But they would not swim into the open, and so I just started walking into the water, knowing they saw me anyway, and walked in until I was about mid thigh (wearing knee-high boots, of course) and extended the monopod through the water so its base was resting on the bottom of the river. The swans were wary but not all that shy, and I was able to get a bunch of nice full frame and nearly full frame images over the 15 minutes that the sleet was bouncing off my face and the water was leaking in over my boots.

Sigh. It was worth it.

All with the Canon 30D, Canon 400mm f5.6L, manual settings at iso400, 1/640 at f5.6, monopod.

The headshake (note droplets with bird on right)

Sounding the alarm

Lots to say

Bookends

Fluffed - male hooded merganser

Scaup by the pair

Goody woody pair

[finnbay]

Great shots, Steve! Glad you were able to catch up to a couple of the big fellas! The mergie is super nice as well!

[mmeyer]

That's some good stuff Steve. Good to see you breaking in the new equipment. I like the Merganser, he's pretty nice.

Thanks for sharing.

[dockothebay]

Beautiful pictures! Thanks for wading into that cold water to get them and then sharing with those of us who don't have that "opportunity". I especially like the Bookends -

[fishnhuntnboy]

Looking at them i would say love is in the air

[MN Shutterbug]

Super shots. What you won't go thru for the perfect photo. I also love the "bookends". Good timing on that one.

[Royce Aardahl]

Awesome, I really like the bookends.

[MARINERMAGNUM]

Love the crop on the Mergy! Well done!

[buzzsaw]

Good job getting out and taking some pics! I (of course) like the nice low eye level you have going here! I'll put in a request to mother nature for some nicer weather with no wind so we can get some nice glass.

[mcary]

Steve,

That 400mm is definitely nice and sharp wide open. Your starting to give me ideas. Good shots. I may have to get down to the water soon.

[Quackaddict9]

I like the last one the best, they are one of my favorite ducks.. I like how it sets with the background and the composure is great too.

[mountaindew]

Steve,

Wow! They look great! My favorite is the bookends.They look tack sharp! I also love the woodies!

[Steve Foss]

Thanks, everybody. I'm partial to the bookends myself.

[jonny_redhorse]

Wonderful captures Steve!...that Hoodie does it for me....not sure why I like em so much but they sure are a neat little bird!

[Dbl]

I love the bookends and the Merggie, very nice series of photos.

[Steve Foss]

Thanks you guys!

[Lake Trout]

Excellent work, Steve! Thought they'd be in the bird watching forum...

[Steve Foss]

They can go in either one, LT. Bird watching isn't necessarily about avian photography (though that can be part of it) and photo sharing encompasses all types of photos, so bird shots can go in one or the other.

I do like to see photos of birds where there are ID questions posted in the bird watching board instead of this one, but we're not too worried about it.

[dukhnt]

I really like the woody shot. All nice pics though.

[Catmendo]

Nice work Steve. It looks like those two drake woody's are on a mission, like getting ready to win over a hen!