Duck - unknown type

[Terry Johnson]

137230

I do not know what kind of duck this is, however, I took the image this morning at Crystal Springs Rhoddodendrum Gardens. The duck was about 30 feet away. An overcast day. Thanks to Dan Pearl for sharing with me the location of the gardens.

Nikon D800
Nikon 70-200mm with 2.0X teleconverter at 400mm
1/350
ISO-320
F5.6
A-Priority

Terry Johnson

[Don Nelson]

Its an American Widgeon male.
Keep your eyes open for another similar species called Eurasian Widgeon with Red Head, yellow forehead and a lateral white stripe above gray and white stripe -- there have been several for years over at Westmoreland (not this year - its all torn up and they've removed the lake).

[dankearl]

Terry,
Glad you made it to the Rhody Garden, a nice place.
IQ and sharpness look good.
ISO way low for D800, lucky at 1/350, you got it this sharp.
You could be at iso 800 w/ a SS of 1000 or so, just in case the duck moved suddenly, etc.
You really should crank up the ISO and the SS, especially with your lens combo.
Angle is steep, getting lower is a nicer look for me.

[Miguel Palaviccini]

Hey Terry,

As Don mentioned, you've got yourself a male American Wigeon. Beautiful bird.

I agree with Dan, with your equipment (D800), I would have opted for a higher shutter speed and cranked up the ISO. No reason to be below ISO 400 for birds as this will keep you prepared in case some action happens.

Next time you head out there, see if you can get a bit lower. The angle between you and the bird is a bit steep. Two ways to fix this are: 1) get lower and 2) get longer glass. Well, one of those is free, so you take your pick!

Miguel