"Waiting for my Hero" This female Hooded Merganser duck was at the waters edge just waiting for the male to paddle back. When I observed them they seldom went out alone. Always together on land, water or air. They seem like loners and don't seem to have the need to congregate with other waterfowl. It seemed as though they could take it or leave it. They were resting under a tree about 3 feet from the water with other waterfowl species. I used a 500 mm f4.0 with flash that had a better beamer on it. Gimble head with a 413 Induro tripod. When shooting a resting bird I like to use live view and go to 5x or 10x magnification if there is time. Most of the time you don't have the time to finesse the shot this much.

AlhambrAlmansar ParkAlmansar Park. alhambraAnimal_MammalBirdsduckduckshooded merganserwaterfowlwood duckWaitingMate1