Progress and the Mini Adventure

This past February I had another great trip to Seward where I shot a series of decent photos of Harlequin Ducks resting on some rocks. It looked to me like some good reference material for a possible future painting.

So, without much enthusiasm I'm afraid to admit, I started a new painting several weeks ago. I should be working on it right now. Instead I'm writing this post and trying to adjust the brakes on my bicycle at the same time. I will take it out for the first spin of the season in a short while. The painting will have to wait until I can feel a spark of inspiration about it.

Yesterday after lunch I found a few minutes to head over to Spenard Crossing to look for new arrivals. The ice has opened up in a few spots and waterfowl are wasting no time at all to exploit the seasonal habitat. Above is a pair of Common Mergansers and a male, Common Goldeneye.

A cute little, female Common Goldeneye.

The males are starting to pay some serious attention to the females, and to rival males.

There was also a lonely, male Bufflehead who had no female to impress.

One pair of Barrow's Goldeneyes, just right for each other, at least until another male shows up.

A report of Trumpeter Swans was the incentive I needed to cross town in hopes of seeing the first swans of the season.

There was pair of them, probably the same pair that made an appearance at this same time last year.

They make wonderful subjects for photos. Too bad I don't have a sharper lens to get better images. Reducing them in size for the blog makes the images look much softer, and more grainy than the full size photos. The prints I make from these photos are much clearer.

There was also a single Redhead that shadowed the swans for a time. Redheads are far less common this far north than Trumpeter Swans. Amazingly I also saw a Common Loon in Chester Creek although it would'nt pose for photos. Loons are birds of large water bodies. It's very unusual to see them in a creek.

I guess that if the creek is the only open fresh water around, and that is where the fish are, then the loon takes what it can get. Now I'm off on a bike ride.