Hoods close up

[Changeling]

The results of a major obsession. After many hours of observation, stalking, various forms of camouflage and outright pulling my hair out, they blundered to within twenty feet and stared at the bush that sounded of E-500 @ 2.5 fps.

[Henk Peter]

That is indeed a striking difference Charles, thank you for sharing these interesting shots. It was well worth the hassle!

[tb2]

This is a bird I only know from pictures. We get red-breasted mergansers and goosanders a-plenty in the UK, but the hooded merganser is an "accidental" only. You've done remarkably well to get those crisp close-ups. Well done.

Regards, Tony

[Garry Frankel]

Wow, the 2nd one is scarry close. It assaults me off of the screen. Very cool.

[Changeling]

Henk, Tony and Garry, I actually captured these a month ago, I put off posting in hopes of getting within the same distance with a superior background and without that annoying curly twig. Unfortunitley it looks like the group has begun their migration north for the year.

Thanks for the input.......Charles