Ducks Ducks Ducks
- Matt Lucas
- Apr 14, 2024
- 7 min read
Blog numero dos - let’s do this!
March had a lot of highs, and it had a lot of lows - concerning nature photography. I am coming to learn, or at least come to experience, a bit of a lull during particular parts of the year where there is minimal wildlife activity - and I’m finding that these times usually happen during the end of fall and during the beginning of spring. Either that or I'm just being a clumsy b1*<h, stomping through the woods... Probably the latter...
March 2, 2024:
Still embarrassed from the missed opportunities of capturing the Short-Eared Owl in February, I decided to head up to Grand Pré for one last winter shoot to see if I could get a glimpse of that gd owl again. I had wanted to do a full day of shooting in the Grand Pré area since the beginning of the year, but the weather and life and whatever other excuse I had at the time stopped me from committing to it.
The plan was to arrive at Grand Pré about 45 minutes before the sun rose so I could be out in the fields before the rest of the town woke up. I was also hoping to capture photos of the fox I saw during one of my recent visits, along with a coyote that was reported to be in the area. Of course, there were all kinds of animals I was hoping to get a glimpse of in the dawnlight, such as skunks, raccoons, deer, and whatever was walking on four legs really.
Didn’t see any of these mammals, but I did see the Short-Eared Owl I’ve been searching for! See the amazing photos below!
(There is an owl in these photos - see if you can find it!)
To be frank, the whole outing was a bit lackluster for photography. While I did get to see a variety of birds, the subjects were less cooperative than usual and I left the day with little to no keepers.
This was a longer trip - 25 kilometers in total. I walked from Grand Pré, essentially from the parking lot at the national historical site to the Gullet, back towards Wolfville, keeping along the coastline the whole time. From Wolfville, I stuck along the trail until I got to the dykelands on the west side, and walked the dykelands to Port Williams. I turned around once I got to Port Williams, taking the Kings County Rail Trail (multiple trail names, depending on the section) all the way back to the Grand Pré historical site.
March 3, 2024:
Today was a better day - photography-wise. This day I decided to drive to Taylors Head, a place I’ve been wanting to check out for a while. We had been experiencing a lot of rain previously in the week, so I was hoping I wouldn’t need to do much slogging through the snow. This was NOT the case.
The park was still closed when I got there, which meant I had to walk from the entrance all the way to the actual trails, which were about 5 kilometers up the road. During this walk is when I sighted my first Horned Grebe.
Grebes are one of those birds I’ve been wanting to see ever since I opened up my first birdwatching book at the age of 5. They have some of the most unique and beautiful mating displays, and they’re just cool looking in general. The Horned Grebes I saw were still in their non-breeding plumage, so their crimson eyes were the only point of colour on them, but it was certainly unmistakable.
One of the other highlights from this trip was coming across Boreal Chickadees. I saw my first Boreal Chickadee last June, 2023, on a trail in Terence Bay and have been searching for more ever since. Boreal Chickadees are slightly smaller than their vastly more common cousin, the Black-Capped Chickadee, have a brown cap and a nasally chickadee call.
I was walking along one of the trails that skirted along the coastline, with the forest to my left. Unfortunately, the trail was in a state where it was snow-covered, but the snow closer to the ground had melted before the top layer, so when you took a step in it you would drop a couple feet. It made for a long hike. I came across the Boreal Chickadees several times during. A couple were feeding with some Golden-Crowned Kinglets, and the others I found not far from where I had parked, which were joined by several Black-Caps.
March 7, 2024:
I had planned on meeting a few friends for a movie later that evening, which gave me an hour or so window after work to find a spot to shoot. I decided to go back to one of my original birding spots, Shubie Park in Dartmouth, as it was close to the theater and I was likely to find something there before it got too dark to shoot.
It was raining lightly at the time, which is what I was hoping for so I could get some shots of wildlife in action. A couple highlights from this quick trip was capturing photos of Red Squirrels (one of, if not, the best place to photograph squirrels in HRM), and an American Black Duck preening in the rain.
March 9, 2024:
This was another day where I only had a couple hours before meeting someone later to get some nature photography in. I headed down to Lawrencetown Provincial Park hoping to see fox, different species of waterfowl, and IDEALLY that effin’ Short-Eared Owl.
It was a quieter morning, as far as wildlife goes. I did see waterfowl of course, but nothing within range. One creature I did come across, surprisingly, was a cute lil' Harbour Seal. I spotted it in Lawrencetown Lake and it came fairly close to me to have a curious look.
March 16, 2024:
I was checking ebird earlier in the week trying to find specific species of waterfowl before they took off back to their breeding grounds. One of those birds was the Gadwall. To find it I traveled to East Chester, Graves Island Provincial Park.
Amazingly, the Gadwall was one of the first birds I found and it was feeding with some other ducks right next to the parking lot. And even more amazingly, the Gadwall did not seem timid by my presence at all. It thankfully stuck around close and long enough for me to grab a few shots of it that I was well pleased with.
Another highlight from this trip was seeing a couple other birds that were unique to me. I got to see my first Thick-Billed Murre, which was wayyy out there in the bay so I was only able to get some doc shots, but still pretty cool to see. The other was a Red-Necked Grebe, which I have seen once before in Halifax harbour, but haven’t been able to take photos of. But like the Murre, the Red-Necked Grebe was feeding away from the shore so I wasn’t able to get any shots worth processing.
Also received a hot tip from a friend that a large group of Ring-Necked Ducks had been gathering at Red Bridge Pond in Dartmouth. I had a party I was attending later that evening, but figured I could squeeze in some duck shots before heading over, which is exactly what I did. I don’t often shoot wildlife during the evening, but I want to start changing that in the coming months. There weren't as many Ring-Necked Ducks as I was hoping, but there was a pair near to where I was set up.
I wanted to get the street lights reflecting on the water behind my subject. I wish the water was a little calmer so I could get a reflection of the duck, but the ripples did make a cool effect with the light so we got something.
March 17, 2024:
Next trip was down towards Petite Rivière Bridge, specifically Cherry Hill Beach, Rissers Beach Provincial Park, and Crescent Beach.
Not going to lie - did not get much for photography on this trip. There was a pair of Lesser Scaups in a pond at Cherry Hill Beach, but most of what I saw were gulls.
It was still pretty great getting out and exploring a new area - always is. I certainly plan on going back, and this time I’ll be bringing multiple lenses.
March 23, 2024:
Needed a pick-me-up from the other weekend, and for once we were getting sunshine (at least for the morning). I headed out to Crystal Crescent Beach first thing and was welcomed by a multitude of bird species. Back at it baby!
Some of my favourite subjects from the morning were a group Harlequin Ducks, several different groups actually. The different groups were just in the right spots at the right time. The waves were breaking over them making for cool compositions.
I also took a pretty cool shot of a few Long-Tailed Ducks flying over a Harbour Seal, which I didn’t notice until after I took the shot. I thought it was a dark wave at first, but NOPE.
March 31, 2024:
Last trip of the month was to Clam Harbour Beach Provincial Park.
Something about this trip was different from many of the previous ones. My head wasn’t where my feet were. I was going through the motions, but I found myself really struggling to be present, to listen to my environment. I was in a funk.
It was still a gorgeous morning and thankfully there was a moment that brought me back to where I was. During the walk there I heard the call of a Winter Wren, the first one of the year for me. Winter Wren’s have one of the most beautiful bird songs of any bird in North America. As soon as I heard it my mind was back in the game.
Reflecting back at the moment I go to the thought of how much nature photography means to me, and how much it’s helped my mental health. It humbles me. It takes me out of my own head, the doubts, the anxieties. I truly do love it and all the things it has brought me.
I grapple with the idea of how much I should be sharing about my mental health here, and what my current/potential audience would want to read about. Are they here because they’re interested in the wildlife adventures, the photography, wanting to be supportive, or because they like reading my writings? Before I would’ve made fun of the idea of people actually being interested in any of the stuff I was interested in, mostly as a defense mechanism, but the idea of it does make me chuckle. Part of writing this blog is to help me work through that, as I do truly want to share my wildlife adventures, and want that to be the main point of writing these blogs. But there is another part of me that wants to be authentic in how I’m feeling during some of these adventures, because that’s who I am and I want to share that part of myself. I think I just need to figure out that balance while continuing to keep up with it.
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