This pair was captured a week ago on a Northern Michigan lake. I had visited them two times previously, and despite spending hours floating around with them, had never seen any back riding. I was quite surprised at this, as they were certainly in the 0-10 day old time frame where you often see lots of back riding. So, I had very low expectations of seeing any when I returned when the chicks were ~17 days old. Normally when the chicks climb up on the back, the adult will lift a wing to allow them easier access. Not the case here! Junior started a couple of feet behind the adult, paddled furiously and shot up over the adults tail and slid forward ! I was sure that the adult would just dive out from under it, which is how they handle the situation when they stop allowing back riding, but for some reason this adult let the chick stay up for 15 minutes! Several times is almost fell off the side, and the view from behind was pretty funny as they kind of sprawled all over the adult, with legs on each side of the adult.
It was a quiet morning in a dark back bay.
D850. 600VR. f/4.5. 1/250ss, ISO 800. Manual fill flash with Better Beamer.
Post: Slight crop, cleaned up a few spots in the water.
Advice and comments always appreciated.
Cheers
Randy







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