Tuesday, March 26, 2013

Stalking Mergansers

I've been seeing a lot of common and hooded mergansers on the canal lately.  Today I went on a short hike and spotted one through my lens about 100 yards away.  It was unusual to see just one, but it was the perfect opportunity to stalk up to it and see how close I could get.

It was diving, so I started to time how long it was under.  On average, it would go under for 6 seconds and then pop up.  Soooo, every time it dived, I sprinted to the count of four and got on the ground.  I did this until I got about 20 yards from him.  I can't believe I got that close.  I belly crawled for 5 more yards, and when he came up, I knew he spotted me, so I just let the shutter fly:)  I got two good side shots and the rest was it high-tailing it out of there!




It was great fun to see how close I could get, as they are very difficult to get close to.  I hope nobody was watching me:)

2 comments:

  1. Haha...the "I hope no one saw me" thought never seems to come BEFORE silly actions.
    I enjoy reading ofyour adventures on the canal, I'm very glad I came across your blog.

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  2. Thanks for stopping by and commenting Debi! I often do silly things to get good photographs and often get "caught" in the act. This embarrassment is usually worth it though. There are just too many good pics waiting to pass up. Thanks for the kind words and please stop by again.

    Bill

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