Sterne Park, October 2014

The Front Range Wildlife Photographers Facebook group had me itching to get out again today, this time to Sterne Park to shoot the wood ducks. The fall foliage along the shore of the pond was creating gorgeous colors on the water, and word was there were about 20 ducks in residence. So after the kids were off to school, I was off to the park.

There were a couple of other photographers already there when I arrived, and I wasn't surprised to find out they were also members of the group.  We happily snapped away, "talking shop" about everything from lenses to tracking settings as we did.

This little guy was dubbed "the ugly duckling."  Possibly a bit harsh, but hardly inappropriate.

I didn't get the eye of this lady as sharp as I wanted.  And I wish there wasn't a guy lurking behind her creating a bit of a distraction.  But I was happy to capture the moment.

The gals were providing me with more interesting behavior than the fellows, including this one who seemed to be complaining about something or other.

No distractions in this one, but the face isn't as sharp or as well lit as I'd like.  Balancing shutter speed and aperture is quite a challenge.  With a faster shutter speed I could have frozen the movement of the wings, but my depth of field and/or exposure would have suffered.  Fortunately, I enjoy practicing.

There we go.  I have much more success getting crisp shots of animals at rest. :)

There were a lot more mallards than wood ducks.  While I was happy for mallards on Sunday, today they were mostly obstacles to be avoided.  Until I finally broke down and shot this preening lass.

I love the leaves on the water here that leave no doubt as to what season it is.

If this guy seems a little bug-eyed, it's because he was.  He had just been a part of some sort of kerfuffle that I'd only been able to capture as splashing water.  I'm guessing he came out on the short end of that disagreement, and was high-tailing it out of there.

A male and female made a brief foray onto shore.  They move a bit more elegantly in the water.

Even ducks seem to resent paparazzi.  He really should relax.  It's not like I'm going to sell these pics to TMZ.

A nice relaxing hour or so in the company of fellow nature photographers and some striking birds.  What a great way to spend part of a beautiful Colorado fall morning!