Diving Duck

Every winter, large flocks of ocean-going ducks arrive in our bay from their breeding grounds in the north. They are mixed flocks of white-winged and surf scoters. The surf scoters in particular are very handsome birds, and I would love to get a decent shot of one of them. This year the birds seem particularly numerous - from our apartment we can sometimes see thousands of them dotted aboout. They are not that easy to shoot though as they always stay tantalizingly out of range (my 300 mm lens is broken, which doesn't help). Anyway, I eventually caught this one, a female white wing, venturing into the shallows. Of course I got my feet wet taking it - I should have just waded in!

Later on, I went back down onto the beach in shorts and sandals (in Massachusetts! at the end of November!) to try and get a better shot, but the birds had mostly gone. This is the first time that I've ever been paddling in the ocean in November though, and to be fair, it was an absolutely beautiful day. I won't say that the water wasn't cold though.