Common Merganser, Male.

[Karl Egressy]

The top left whitish area is the ice/snow still covering most of the Marina.
Thanks for looking.

Canon 7D Mark II
Canon 500 f4.0 L IS
ISO 400
f5.6
1/2500 s

[Sanjeev Aurangabadkar]

Very nice image with lovely colours, wind position and I like that BG. TFS.

[Bill Dix]

Great flight capture, Karl. I tried several times this week, unsuccessfully, to catch these guys in flight. They fly very fast. This take-off pose has good wing position, good exposure.

[Jack Breakfast]

The bird and background are great, although there is too much bird in the frame for my taste. Karl, you have been cleaning up over at that canal! How recent is this picture, may I ask?

[Derek_Lauzon]

Great fight shot Karl, it's very hard to get a decent shot of these guys.

[Lyle Gruby]

Exposure looks great, light is very nice, and I really like the ice in the BG. I love the wing position with the primaries splayed like that. Nicely done.

[Ivan Sjögren]

Very pleasing shot Karl! Perfectly exposed, which can be tricky on these guys. Great wing position, nice light and good details. I like the sharp water that gradually moves to ice in the BG

[Karl Egressy]

The bird and background are great, although there is too much bird in the frame for my taste. Karl, you have been cleaning up over at that canal! How recent is this picture, may I ask?
Thanks, Jack.
I'll post a full frame one next time right at the moment of the take off, as a more loose composition.
You have to be able to read the body language of these guys and follow them from the start, otherwise they are way too fast in flight.
(up to 100 miles per hour)

[David Salem]

Holy smokes Karl you're knocking these duck shots out of the park! This one is awesome with a great wing position, body angle and head angle on this handsome Drake. The orange bill and feet look great and your exposure settings look perfect. Looks like you went a bit over and brought the whites back, which is what I like to do to get good detail from the dark head and wings so great job if that was the case.
You couldn't have asked for a better frame and your dedication to your craft is becoming clearly evident!! Killer Karl!

[gail bisson]

Well done Karl.
Great exposure and you have shown the head and the iridescence perfectly.
Gail

[Ed Kelly]

Beautiful shot. Agree with all comments above. I would like to see the top piece of ice removed. It has specular highlights and a solid shadow line around it,which I find a distraction from this
great shot.

Ed

[shane shacaluga]

Excellent flight pose and tack sharp around eye! Exposure is also spot on. Good work

TFS

[Gerald Kelberg]

Love the light and strong colours on this one. Super dynamic take-off shot. The water colour is great and the ice in the background could easily be clouds.

Very well done!

Gerald

[William Dickson]

Fab image Karl. I was at these today in the harbour, so I know how difficult they are to capture in flight. You have done well here. I love how the reds on the bill and feet stand out on a very cold looking BG. Very nice Good work

[Jonathan Ashton]

Absolute gem of a shot, my only suggestion is that it is slightly large in the frame otherwise perfectomondo!