Thanks for that observation Greg. Heading out soon for the dog hike. Will try to get close enough for some clear in flight shots, as neither species has been in abundance here.
Cheers,
Jack

Had a good hike. Not around at the right time for most the ducks. Settled on images of a familiar shore bird for most of us who have spent time around sloughs, the Avocet. I ended up filling the memory card and was wondering what would I see on the way out that I will be annoyed about not having another card along. I use 8GB cards, so it takes a long time to fill one and I forget it is not endless. Well, Murphy's law held true. I encountered another unusual species for the area - antelope. Male, female and fawn. They only moved off the trail and stood about 75 yards away. I just kept rolling along at about 5MPH and watched them for a short while. The fawn wasn't too old, about triple the size of those little (some might say annoying) toy poodles. Now a Standard Poodle has my respect as a great hunting dog. I have never owned one but have watched one working in the pheasant fields. Very nice dog. The mosquitos were ugly tonight, even with netting jacket. The hands were bare for operating the camera and those little buggers knew it too. Okay, I seem to have blathered on a bit. Here are some shots of the Avocet

Jack, your photography skills amaze me.

Lest you think I'm some kind of wizard, this helps me a lot. It is why there is still definition of ducks at 400 yards for the knowledgeable to tell the difference between canvasback vs. redhead. The lens is image stablized which helps focus a great deal when all I shoot is hand held. Of course there is still composition etc which can be helped a bit by other software as well as color work. A bit like playing games with film using dark room tricks. All much easier with digital. But, being at the right place, right time and knowing the possibilities and limitations of your gear is still for the guy behind the camera.

Oh... nevermind :shock:

O yes thats the one for me.

All the best Dave.