This male is one of the 3 Wood Duck couples that appear to be breading at a pond near my house. I shot these with the 300 f/4 + 1.7TC handheld. View attachment 87321 View attachment 87322
Nice job on these, Chris. You've really captured those wonderful colors. Any tips on getting close? I see breeding pairs near my house every year, but they are exceedingly shy.
Thanks all for the kind comments. The ducks in the pond are as close to doscile as a Wood Duck gets. The pond is about 20 feet from a walking path and about 10 feet lower. I guess that with all the people jogging by, they get used to it. There is a platform there for looking over the pond and it makes a great observation deck. People occasionally throw bread in and the ducks will come up on the bank for it. Jim Strathearn suggest feed corn to get them to come in close. You could try something like that Dave.
Thanks Bill, Alex & Dianne. It will be fun when there are chicks to photograph. Here is a very cool page with Wood Duck chick photos and movies of them leaving the nesting box. http://www.birds.cornell.edu/birdhouse/nestboxcam/movies_home/wodu_movies
