This image (a cropped version of this original) is one of the first pictures I took with my new camera several weeks ago. J and I had walked to Cold Springs Park in Newton, we saw a pair of mallards swimming in bright sunlight at close range, and I zoomed in for an extreme closeup of his iridescent head dripping with pond water. Wonderful!
This was the kind of image I was lusting for, then, when I heard that a Eurasian teal has been spotted in Newton. If I could get as close to the teal as I had to the mallard, I thought, and if the light and my luck were just as good, I could snap a picture-perfect image. Instead, when J and I spotted a small duck dabbling with a pair of noticeably larger mallards at Cold Spring Park this afternoon, the light was all wrong for an extreme closeup. It didn’t help, either, that both the teal and mallards were feeding, so much of the time I found myself looking at a headless teal:
If you snap enough pictures, however, eventually even a headless duck might be inspired to step out of the water to make himself ready for his closeup.
This is my contribution to today’s Photo Friday theme, Extreme Closeup; you can click here to see my complete photo-set of Eurasian teal images. Only after we’d begun to walk toward home did J and I learn that we’d missed seeing the wood ducks that have also been dabbling at Cold Spring Park. I guess we’ll have to try to take their closeups some other sunny day.
Hoarded Ordinaries 
Mar 27, 2009 at 8:06 pm
I love that second photo, though! I’ve been looking at glossy nature magazines like National Wildlife and Audubon since I was a wee lad, so I’ve seen no end of stunning waterfowl pics, to the point – i’m afraid – of boredom. So while as a photographer I understand how frustrating it must’ve been not to get that closeup of the head in good light, as a photo-appreciator I’m loving the contrast between ripples and feathers and the general novelty of a headless duck.
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Mar 28, 2009 at 7:41 am
Okay, these are the kind of photo that makes me lust after your camera! I dreamed about getting a new camera a week or so ago. Then I remember how uncomfortable I feel using my quick/unobtrusive point-and-shoot in public. Have really got to get over that.
I, too, love the ass-end-up duck! But glad you captured the headshot you were going for.
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Mar 28, 2009 at 11:43 am
Aesthetically, I actually like the WATER in some of these shots more than the duck itself. I love the ripples in the headless shot, for instance…and the little dots you can see on the bird’s belly.
J took a lovely shot of leaves floating in the shallows, whereas I was focused exclusively on the teal. He was thinking like a photographer, and I was thinking like a birder.
This new camera is DEFINITELY something you have to be “comfortable” carrying and using. It’s not a “purse camera,” so I use it only when I go out specifically to take pictures. On a daily basis, I still use my old camera for taking quick, unobtrusive shots. With the bigger camera, it’s obvious you’re “out taking pictures” because you have it slung over your neck or shoulder, like a photographic fashion accessory.
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Apr 3, 2009 at 10:52 am
I love these pictures. I saw a very similar duck at a nearby pond (in Colorado), but I couldn’t identify it. I was very excited when I saw your picture, thinking I’d finally learned its name. But my red-headed duck didn’t have the green swoosh on the eyes. Could it still be a Eurasian Teal, I wonder?
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Apr 3, 2009 at 12:52 pm
American teals look nearly identical to Eurasian teals (they’re currently considered to be a single species, in fact). They both have the green swoosh on their eyes.
I’d have to consult a field guide to figure out what sort of duck you might have seen. Redheads have heads that are entirely red, but they’re diving ducks, so you’d see them only on large (deep) ponds and lakes.
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Apr 4, 2009 at 9:08 am
Thanks, Lorianne. They are Readhead Ducks–very beautiful diving ducks! I’d never seen them before.
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Apr 4, 2009 at 11:32 am
Cool! I love diving ducks but rarely see them because they frequent deep water, so they can be tricky to see from shore (at least without binoculars or a spotting scope). Redheads are one of my favorites, but it’s been a long time since I’ve seen one.
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Apr 15, 2009 at 5:52 pm
Fabulous pix – I need that camera – what kind is it?
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Apr 15, 2009 at 6:05 pm
It’s a Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ28:
http://www.flickr.com/cameras/panasonic/dmc-fz28/
It’s bigger than my everyday point-and-shoot, but it’s great for those times when I want to pull out the “big guns.”
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