You can't always get what you want...

Yes, by the end of my snowy photo adventure on Wednesday, the Rolling Stones were playing on repeat in my head.

[Admit it. Did you just sing that headline? Isn’t it funny how our brains are wired that way?]

Anyway, I was hunting for Common Goldeneye ducks at Lake Chauncy in Westborough. They had been spotted there the night before.

For someone who won’t kill the spider in the house, I do a lot of hunting and shooting. Ha!

And yes, my “weapon” of choice was my Nikon D850 with my Sigma 150-600mm lens and Induro tripod.

I was hunting for ducks, but wow, they eluded me big time. They were there, just not near.

Every time I thought I was close, my hopes were dashed. It really felt like the ducks were playing games with me.

“Oh, they floated over that way.”

I’d hoof it over there and they’d either fly away, or float away. They were going back-and-forth at one point. So, I did, too. This is great, I thought… extra steps for me. But they always left before I reached them.

Meanwhile, it was snowing, then sleeting, then raining, then snowing heavily. Not ideal trail hike conditions.

In the end, I did not get what I wanted. I couldn’t even get close enough to see if the Common Goldeneye was among the Common Mergansers.

Quality Moments VS Quality Photos

My duck photos are not quality photos. I call these “documentary” photos. They document that I saw them, but the quality is horrible from a technical standpoint. That’s okay. I’m the type of photographer who takes pictures of whatever comes my way.

SWAN LAKE

I shifted gears and focused on the swans. They were fun to watch, as they glided around, chilled out, and did nose-dives for food… bottoms up! I got a series of dramatic poses from one them, too. That was fun.

COLOR OR BLACK & WHITE?

I’m taking a poll. Do you prefer the image below in color or black & white? Let me know.

FUN FACT

The swans keep water repellent by oiling their entire body with the oil from their uropygial oil gland (preen gland) located near their rump. See if you can zoom way in on the swan butt shot. You can see all the drops of water being repelled, which is kind of cool.

ANOTHER GIFT

My adventure continued on my way back to the car. I was walking on the wide path higher than the path along the water. All of a sudden, a beautiful Red-Tailed Hawk lifted off and perched closer to the water.

I spent about 30 minutes observing the hawk from quite a distance. Then a nice guy and his two dogs came along (the only person I saw on the trail because the weather was horrible). The hawk scattered.

My goal was to be rewarded finally for making the effort to find these ducks. The plan was to be gifted with the perfect photo opp at the end of my walk at the inlet. Sure enough, there were about 20 ducks congregated there. And, sure enough, the two dogs scared them away.

I was grateful for the time I had with the hawk. I thanked Lake Chauncy for the swans and the far-away ducks. At least I saw them.

And, although I didn’t get what I wanted, I was euphoric for having had this time with nature. I got in the zone and didn’t even realize 2.5 hours had passed.