Goosander in Flight

This post is a continuation of the previous post on my trip to North Wales to photograph some Goosander on an upland lake. I have undertaken several sessions previously with these birds but never managed to photograph one in flight. This has resulted from the birds never actually taking to the wing during my previous visits. Therefore the main objective of this session was to try and capture some of those elusive flight photographs.

The birds seemed very active, which may have been a result of the high numbers of males creating competition and trying to impress the two females present. This resulted in the birds frequently taking flight. Just like public transport you wait ages for one to arrive and then three turn up at once.

As this was the first time I had seen the birds in the air I was amazed by the speed of their low flight across the lake. Fortunately they tend to fly in reasonably straight lines which allows time for the photographer to track the bird and the camera focus to lock on the target. It reminded me a little of photographing puffins on a larger scale. I didn't manage to take a photograph of one of the females in flight but was happy with my results for the male birds.

It was interesting to watch these birds coming in to land as not only do they use their wings and large webbed feet to slow down their approach but in the final moment dip their fanned tail into the water to provide an additional brake. Given the speed of their flight the birds have a lot of momentum to dissipate before landing.

Another thing I had not realised from previously watching the birds swimming around the lake was the width of their body which is shown on this head on approach photo of bird coming in to land.

These birds will no doubt have dispersed now to their breeding areas on the fast flowing streams and rivers that drain the surrounding hills. However, I am sure they will return once more to this lake next winter and no doubt I will join them once more for another session in attempt to capture a female in flight.

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Perfect Day

Back at the beginning of February, I took a day off work for my birthday to head out for some photography. This has now become a bit of a tradition and on this occasion I arranged the day out with my two good friends Steve and Gerhard to try and photograph some Goosander. The forecast looked good at our destination of an upland lake in North Wales, with clear skies and light winds predicted. Conditions were not great locally as I drove around in the early morning coastal fog to pick them up for the trip. However, I was confident all would be well at our destination as this was similar weather to my previous visit when the elevation of the lake effectively puts it above the low lying fog.

The site we were visiting is very scenic with the the placid waters of this large lake reflecting the surrounding hills and snow capped mountains under the low winter sun.

As expected the Goosander were present but the normally female dominated flock on this occasion consisted of 7 males and just 2 females. We set about starting to take some photos. When photographing water birds the most effective images tend to be those where the camera is as close to water level as possible. This particular site has a concrete jetty that is set only a few centimetres above the lake water easily allowing this low point of view. However, it does tend to be a bit of a messy business as you find yourself lying amongst a lot of green slime and gloop that coats the jetty. I will start of with a few photographs of the females.

A close up of the femald's head with that rich rust orange head colouring. You can see from this photo why these fish eating ducks are called sawbills. The fine teeth of the bill perfectly adapted for catching fish.

A bit of early morning preening to keep the feathers in good condition.

An attentive male bird in the background.

Emerging from a dive with a male in hot pursuit.

The male Goosander is probably one of the trickiest birds I can think of in terms of getting the exposure of the photograph correct. It's a balancing act of trying to keep detail in the head, which turns from black to green depending on the light angle, without over exposing the bright off white flanks of the bird. The females on the other hand are much easier to photograph with you just needing to keep an eye on the exposure of whites on the breast. The males are truly stunning in the right light.

The intimate view created by photographing at water level.

One of the main purposes of this trip was to try and get some flight photos but I will be keeping those to the next blog post and just sticking with portraits for this one.

A good day was had by all and we left in the mid-afternoon with memory cards full of images. I dropped my friends off but didn't realise that was not the last I would see of them that day as unbeknown to me a surprise meal at a Chinese resturant had been arranged for my birthday in the evening. This was a great end to a perfect day of good company in a great setting with beautiful birds in wonderful light. You can't ask for much more than that.

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