Long-tailed Duck

[Rob Melone]

This image of a preening Long-tailed Duck drake in winter plumage was captured along the inlet jetty at Barnegat light, NJ.

Nikon D7000
Nikkor 300mm f/4 w/1.4x teleconverter
1/2000
f/9
ISO 400

Manual exposure
Hand held

C & C are welcome!

[Arthur Morris]

Beautiful drake, sharpness, EXP, pose, light, and image. I wish only that the eye were open :)

[Bill Dix]

Artie took the words out of my mouth. A very nice capture, Rob. Was this on your most recent visit to the jetty? The one day I was there (3/20), I found no drakes around, and only a few hens on the water. I was surprised, and feared they had headed north. It was a very windy afternoon, so maybe they were hiding somewhere out of the wind.

[William Dickson]

Nice one Rob. Well done

[gail bisson]

This is very nice.
Love the preening pose.
Good exposure on the whites.
I have to agree with Artie about the eye. I wish it was either fully closed or open. Not a deal breaker for me though.
I like the visible trailing feet and the little bubbles,
Gail

[Rob Melone]

Here is a shot of the Long-tailed Duck drake from the same series only in this one he has his eye open.

[Bill Dix]

Nice one, Rob. The open eye is a plus, and the raised tail. Good pose and lovely water. I enjoyed shooting with you the other day. Glad you got your car out.

[Arthur Morris]

Like the second one. And like the first one too. The bird in the OP is better angled towards us. But I do like seeing the eye. I'll bet that you were sitting low in the rocks for these. Were you out near the far end?

[Rob Melone]

Artie, I was near the far end but not all the way to the tower. The low angle is due to high tide. I bought a watch with a tide/moon indicator so rather than look up the tide each time, I use the watch. For water shots or shorebirds sleeping, I head to the jetty when the tide is coming in. For preening shots, when the tide is going out. Thanks for the advice to remove my tc. I had a really good shoot at the jetty last week with much better compositions, I think. I don't live far from Denise and hope to meet you someday to thank you personally for all the help you have given me.

[Arthur Morris]

Hey Rob, You are most welcome. I pretty much new exactly where you were. Been there, done that. Hope to see you there one of these years.