Al Hansen
Well-known member
Bev and I decided to jump into the car and run down to the refuge to see if any of the ponds were beginning to fill up with water. Most were not touched yet, because the demands from agriculture uses most of the Rio Grande. They were filling a large pond on the west side of the Hwy. 1 and it was holding a good number of pintail, that small flock of lesser snows that I saw back in the first part of October and some Canada geese. On October 31st all irrigation ceases in the state of New Mexico with the exception of the native Americans who can still use the water if they see fit. So soon the refuge will be busy filling the ponds.
We drove down to the main part of the refuge and found one small pond that was holding more pintails. This pond was close enough for me to use my camera and long lens. It marked the very first time in my life that I have ever captured on pixels the wing action of a puddle duck exploding off the water. I put the time sequence on each of the 4 shots. It is hard to imagine how fast they can catapult themselves into the air. Now I do realize why I miss them when jump shooting. Just think, just a touch over 1/3rd of a second was the time lapse from the 1st shot through to the 4th shot.
All I can say is Mother Nature is really something to behold. We are so lucky to be involved like we are.
Al
By the way, most of these pintails are drakes and sometimes they beat the teal down here. They get down here in September when our temps are still in the 80sF and 90sF.
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We drove down to the main part of the refuge and found one small pond that was holding more pintails. This pond was close enough for me to use my camera and long lens. It marked the very first time in my life that I have ever captured on pixels the wing action of a puddle duck exploding off the water. I put the time sequence on each of the 4 shots. It is hard to imagine how fast they can catapult themselves into the air. Now I do realize why I miss them when jump shooting. Just think, just a touch over 1/3rd of a second was the time lapse from the 1st shot through to the 4th shot.
All I can say is Mother Nature is really something to behold. We are so lucky to be involved like we are.
Al
By the way, most of these pintails are drakes and sometimes they beat the teal down here. They get down here in September when our temps are still in the 80sF and 90sF.
View attachment _MG_7780.JPG
View attachment _MG_7781.JPG
View attachment _MG_7782.JPG
View attachment _MG_7783.JPG