Photoclubalpha

A few weeks ago, I was walking at Huntley Meadows and came upon this wood duck leaving its nest (thanks Argonaut for the correction).

1. Hello World



A few weeks later, here they all are.

2. The Brood



3. Zipping Along




They are really hard to find in the wetlands, as they seem adverse to being seen by predators (ospreys and eagles frequent Huntley Meadows). Thanks for looking.

Great photos, but they are Wood Ducks, not mergansers. Wood Ducks are cavity nesters and yes, all the ducklings take the fall, sometimes from considerable heights, to leave the nest.

You are right! Thank you for the info (learning is always fun). So I changed the description from merganser to wood duck. I was confused because the mergansers also nest in the same area.

Excellent shots. That one of the duckling leaping out of the nest is great.

teh duckling jumping out of the nest is awesome, to think that before they start to fly,swim, run or walk that jump is their first challenge so they are doing it absolutely blind, brilliant pic that tells an amazing story

Fabulous pictures! Love the free fall picture and great to see the whole family on the water

Excellent set, and especially the the duckling in free fall. Great capture.
The other two are very sharp. Which lens have you used for these shots?

Sury

I kind of oversharpened the last two images (for effect). I used the Tamron 150-600 for these images.