It’s duck season at Great Salt Lake, which I absolutely love. Different birds are moving through every day. Bugs are down, the heat is gone, it’s not bitter cold yet, and the days are shorter so you can shoot both sunrise and sunset and still get enough sleep! It’s also hunting season, so there are a lot of people about and the birds are super skittish.
One solution is to shoot in the dark, well before sunrise and after sunset. Waterfowl are active at night, and they can be much calmer since their predators are mostly out in the daytime. It also doesn’t hurt that they can’t see you very well. So if you have a tank of a lens, a healthy disregard for digital noise, and any kind of glimmer from reflections, city lights, or the moon, it can work out. Here are a few shots I’ve taken at the limit of dark.
Ruddy Duck
Sweet little Ruddy Duck spotted me just as I spotted him from behind a screen of reeds.
Great Blue Heron
Last of the Red-necked Phalaropes, probably a juvenile en route to South America.
Blue-winged Teal
Western Grebe