Archived posting to the Leica Users Group, 2010/01/09

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Subject: [Leica] IMG: more Goldeneye ducks
From: imagist3 at mac.com (George Lottermoser)
Date: Sat, 09 Jan 2010 11:55:34 -0600
References: <28083315.1263056192684.JavaMail.root@wamui-june.atl.sa.earthlink.net>

Wonderful work Doug
and made all the more valuable
by the informative captions.

Certainly a case where words and pictures
add up to more than the sum of their separate parts.

Regards,
George Lottermoser
george at imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com
http://www.imagist.com/blog
http://www.linkedin.com/in/imagist

On Jan 9, 2010, at 10:56 AM, Doug Herr wrote:

> Friday morning I spent a few hours at the state fish hatchery at  
> Nimbus Dam, a few minutes from home.  The hatchery's water outflow  
> often contains small fish (or portions of fish), a fact not lost on  
> the local birds.  A portion of the outflow is let into a settling  
> pond where it eventually makes its way through percolation and  
> direct flow to the American River, a few meters below the hatchery.
>
> Many of the local birds consider the settling pond to be a prime  
> feeding area so among some species, the Common Goldeneye among  
> them, 'turf' wars are fought over the best locations.  Yesterday  
> two pairs of Goldeneyes plus one bachelor male staked claims to the  
> pond.
>
> When a neighboring Goldeneye gets too close to your claimed area,  
> the first level of threat is to lower the head and aim toward the  
> interloper:
>
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/cogo04.html
>
> Both male and female Goldeneyes use this threat posture, but if the  
> neighbor doesn't back off the male will go to level two threat,  
> where he tosses his head back and makes a sound that is best  
> described as a mix of a purr and a soft growl:
>
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/cogo03.html
>
> Note the female of this pair has maintained the level one threat  
> posture.  A physical battle often takes place underwater which is  
> out of the range of my camera's design parameters.  Once the winner  
> is decided (home court is a big advantage) the loser makes a hasty  
> retreat:
>
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/cogo06.html
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/cogo07.html
>
> which is followed by the winner's victory dance:
>
> http://wildlightphoto.com/birds/anatidae/cogo05.html
>
> all photos: R8/DMR, 560mm f/6.8 Telyt, shoulder stock & monopod.   
> All comments welcome.
>
>
> Doug Herr
> Birdman of Sacramento
> http://www.wildlightphoto.com
>
>
>
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In reply to: Message from wildlightphoto at earthlink.net (Doug Herr) ([Leica] IMG: more Goldeneye ducks)