For the last month we have been shooting sports championships all over the state, so I have been getting very behind on my blog posts.
But I did manage to sneak in a quick trip a couple weeks ago to see my buddy Dave in the Buffalo area. Originally we were going to go to Iroquois National Wildlife Refuge but the water at the refuge was still pretty much iced over, so Dave cooked up an alternate plan. He took me to the Irondequoit Bay area, near Rochester instead. The water up along Lake Ontario is usually open at this time of year and the migrating ducks were already back in pretty good numbers.
We hit several spots in and around a smaller bay off of the main bay called Braddock Bay. This was a different style of shooting for me. It’s a run and gun type of shooting, and we put plenty of miles on the car moving from one spot to another.
The first thing that struck me was the variety of species of ducks compared to what we see here in the spring. Redheads, Buffleheads, Ringnecks, Scaup, etc., it was a smorgasboard of duckulous proportions! I even got to see a Long Tailed duck, which was a first for me. I have included a few pics that were good enough to show. the wind was blowing around 25-30 mph all day, so that didn’t make things easy and I’m also learning a new camera, so I had plenty of wasted electrons!! But I hope you enjoy them!! Click on the images to enlarge…
Redheads on the alert!!!
Ringneck Ducks flying in formation, with Mom on point!
A Harrier Hawk, a first for me!
A better angle….
I also saw my first Saw-Whet Owl on this trip! Unfortunately the best image I have is a small brown blur in a sea of pine branches! One of the most common Owls, yet this was a first for me! I’m including a link so you can see a pic of these little cuties! Northern Saw-whet Owl Overview, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology
Many thanks to my friend Dave for guiding me for the day! I would never have seen the Owl without him pointing it out to me! I will definitely return the favor when you come down for the GBHs….. Thanks for looking and remember…. get out and shoot!!!
