I have learned quite a bit about ducks just from watching them each week.  Several months ago, I noticed the ducks pairing together and suspected that eventually I would see some ducklings.  I looked online and noted that the males usually leave the females when the eggs are laid.  When I noticed that the males were no longer with the females, I suspected that ducklings would soon be there.

Sure enough, several weeks later there were ducklings!

I used my 100-400 to get these shots, combined with a fill flash.  The mother was very cautious with the young ducks and it took me a bit of time before she would let me get close without feeling threatened.  Still, she kept a sharp eye on me while I took these shots.  In particular, I wish some of the plants weren’t there and I didn’t get the angles that I would have preferred, but I still think the shots show that the ducklings were indeed cute!

Interestingly, a bit later a crow came near the ducklings and the mother duck went straight at it.  I later read online that crows will eat ducklings.

Other predators that will attack ducklings in our area include owls.  Hopefully the majority of these cute ducklings made it.

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We watched the ducks for about a half hour.  I didn’t get any shots that I am particularly crazy about, but it was interesting watching them.

From watching them I learned that each pair of ducks seems to have a territory.  Generally the territory is defined by some natural obstacles – such as a fallen tree or some branches.  When another duck (particularly a male) enters this territory the other male will slowly glide towards it.  Most of the time, the intruder responds by backing off and leaving the duck’s territory.  However, once in awhile they start fighting.

In this shot, I tried playing with the reflection of the bird.  I did this in a number of shots, but none of them came out as well as I hoped, which is OK.  After watching the ducks for awhile and failing to get a shot whenever they took off or started fighting, I took out the macro lens and looked around for what I could find.

  I found this harvestman on a leaf and discussed it in an earlier post.  Harvestmen are always great to photograph as they sit still for the camera.  What many people do not know about them is they are not spiders.  While they are arachnids, they are in a different order than spiders – kind of like scorpions.

While finding things for another macro photographer to shoot, I came across this woodlouse and couldn’t resist taking a few shots of it.  They are one of the easiest subjects to find and many of them are also very patient for the camera.  Other names for the woodlouse include roly-poly, pillbug, and sowbug.  This is actually a sowbug I believe, as it did not roll into a ball as pillbugs do.

One of my favorite subjects by far to photograph is the springtail.  Tey are so tiny that few people know what they look like up close and they are often very interesting insects to look at.  I recently found a used book at the bookstore with a first chapter on springtails.  I hope to have time to read it soon so I can blog more about the collembola family soon.

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This isn’t a particularly interesting picture of a millipede.  I have much better millipede shots and it was one of a handful of shots I got that day.  This particular millipede is quite small and I had placed it on some moss nearby for a more interesting shot.

However, the story behind the shot is a bit more interesting.

After noticing some birds at the site the last time I went out, I decided to show up armed with my 100-400.  I approached the nearest lake quietly and took out my 100-400 along with my tripod and stood there checking out what was around.

The birds did not disappoint.  Within moments a gorgeous great heron flew over the pond a few feet from me.  The moment was too brief and I did not have my camera turned on at the time.  However, I followed the bird with my eyes and noticed that it landed at the next pond over.

Eager to get a good shot of the heron, I took off for the pond.  However, once I got there I did not see the heron and only found a few ducks on the opposite side of the pond.  I took a few shots of the ducks, which I deleted when I came home as they were truly awful.  The thought then occurred to me – perhaps the heron was at the third pond?

Between the two ponds was a thicket of thorns that did not look too appealing, but I was eager to get the shot.  After navigating a number of thorns it looked like the only thing between me and the second lake was a large clearing.  I started through the clearing and quickly noticed that the whole area was flooded.

While carefully trying to navigate the flooded area through brush that had fallen on top of it, my feet got stuck deep in the mud.  Had I been in normal clothes I probably wouldn’t have minded it.  However this was the middle of the work day and I had on dress casual clothes and my best shoes!

I managed to get myself unstuck and while trying to get back to the place I started at I got stuck in the thorns.  They scraped me neck and ripped my hands quite well – such that I had scratches and blood all over them.  Pissed off, I gave up on the lakes and the birds and went back to the first lake (which is accessible via a path).  There I took out my macro lens and got a handful of shots – including this millipede.  I wanted to at least get something out of the shoot.

I then packed up my camera and went back to work.  Immediately after getting back to my office, I went to the first aid kit and cleaned up my hands – then applied band aids all over.  I proceeded to show up at my next meeting with my shoes completely covered with mud, my white socks brown, mud all over my pants, and my hands full of band aids.  Of course, we’re all engineers so no one said anything…

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Interestingly enough, I have only found this critter in one place – close to one of the ponds near my office.  I have never found one by my house or in any of the parks.  Therefore, my suspicion is that – while obviously not aquatic – whatever this grows up into prefers to be near water.

From the front of the insect, it is clearly carnivorous.  As frightening as it looks, it is harmless to humans.  As this one tried to escape, I grabbed it lightly to place it on a leaf to photograph.  It did not bite me and was very timid when placed on the leaf.

Here is a shot of the length of the insect.

Someday when I finally have some method to keep insects for photography, I would like to see one of these mature into whatever it may become.  However, I may have some difficulty finding whatever it eats.

If anyone has any idea what this is, I would greatly appreciate it.

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Therefore, I have decided to organize a group mini-photoshoot each Friday during lunch.  This will push me to make sure I show up here each Friday.  Each day, I also try to do something different.  For instance, the last time I went there I took my MP-E 65 and took pictures of the few creatures I could find.  Conditions were wet and chilly and much insect life had not yet appeared.  However, I did find some interesting worms.

As with current trends, I am trying to pay more attention to composition in my shots.  Therefore, it worked out quite well that I found some interesting worms.

I am excited to keep visiting this location each week to see it slowly change.  It is a very interesting area and I will try a few non-macro shots as well in the future.  For instance, there are a great deal of birds here so I will bring my 100-400 at some point.

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