Thursday, January 5, 2012

More birds at the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge

Male Northern Shoveler

Asian duck vacations in California


I spent New Year's Day on a platform in the Colusa National Wildlife Refuge snapping photos of a stray male Falcated Duck, common in China but pretty unusual in California. There have been birders and photographers here from all over the country since it was first spotted on Dec. 8. If the length of the camera lenses that day is any indication of the quality of the photos there are some pretty awesome shots out there.  Here are a couple of mine taken with a relatively short lens, Canon 55-250. The duck slept on a log most of the time I was there, but also performed in the water for his audience on the platform.