Not a chinese takeout....
Female Mandarin duck taken this morning at my pond in Portland Oregon.
About the third time I have one in flight.
1DS_3336bp2.jpg
I do not know how many there are or how they got here..
BG are dying fir trees....
D500, 420mm (300 w/ 1.4) f4, 1/2000, iso5000
Dan: This one really evokes the feeling of fall to me as well. Good angle in frame, eye contact. Held up well at this ISO.
It reminds me of going to Cleveland, Ohio in the fall for the wood ducks. The fall colors were great there, and the ducks very tolerant of people. Unfortunately , that venue no longer is productive after wildlife management decisions .
Cherish every day with the birds, as they may not last.
The BG is the main attraction here, bit well done on the flight image of this individual too. I imagine you'll get some males in breeding plumage one of these days. We're blessed up here with a spot that has some very tolerant Wood Ducks, so I cherish these moments too.
The background is crazy, and the bird hols up just well enough to make this work. The smoothed/plastic far/left wing is redeemed by the amazing eye contact, for example. This is one of those time when direct light would have wrecked the image.