Spring Waterfowl Shoot

Over the past three or so years, the juncture of my birding and photography passions has evolved into what seems to be a new tradition - a spring waterfowl shoot. Each March, the arrival of migrant waterfowl coincides with the beginning of ice melt in our Montana waterfowl marshes. Initially, the melt takes place mostly along the margins of the water bodies before openings occur farther out in the marshes and lakes. At the same time, the ice in the cattail and bulrush stands is slower to melt, probably because of the shading and insulating influences of these dense stands of vegetation. This differential melting provides a perfect opportunity to get closer to the openings used by the variety of early arriving waterfowl. And, of course, the cattails & bulrush also act as a pretty good opportunity for camouflage and hiding. In addition, these plants provide some comfort and insulation for sitting hours in one location.

The window of opportunity that these conditions present may be limited to 10 or fewer days, depending on the progression of ice melt. This year, the window was quite short because of the warm and windy weather we experienced in mid-March. In the previous 2 years, good conditions persisted longer.

To get positioned properly, one has to take into account the wind and sun direction for best photo opps. "Shooting" birds in flight is every bit as challenging with a camera as it is with a shotgun. And believe me, on a good day, I take many more shots with a camera than I ever did with a shotgun, so the success rate for the camera is generally far below that of the shotgun. But it is great fun and a fantastic way to enter the spring season of new birding/photography opportunities.

To date, this new tradition has focused mostly on the Lake Helena area of the Helena Valley and on Freezout Lake Wildlife Management area. The latter has the advantage of a potentially spectacular backdrop of the Rocky Mountain Front. Northern pintails are the are usually my prime targets, but there are numerous other species present that also spark my interest.Canvasback are also high on my list but are not nearly as abundant as other species.My photographer friends and I are not the only Montanans that "flock" to Freezout Lake at this time of year. Huge concentrations of snow geese and swans use Freezout as a way point on their migration to breeding grounds in the far north. Concentrations of 100,000 or so geese are not unusual during spring migration, and weather events sometimes temporarily slow northern movement with a resulting buildup approaching a quarter million geese. Swan numbers sometimes approach 10,000 or so, but this is somewhat unusual and a peak of 5,000 or so would be more normal. These large concentrations of waterfowl a truly an amazing spectacle of nature!

When looking at flocks of white geese, it is a challenge to see if you can distinguish the Snow geese from Ross's geese. Although the plumage is nearly exactly the same, the latter species has a smaller body and the head shape and bill are diagnostic. These are snow geese.Tundra swans are by far the most numerous of this group but trumpeters are sometimes mingled among them. Bil shape and the yellow spot usually found at the base of the Tundra swan's bill are the best way to separate these species. Click on this image to view the yellow spot.The call of the Trumpeter is also noticeably lower than that of the Tundra swans.Common goldeneye are usually fairly abundant at this time of year but seem to fly faster than other species and are difficult to get good shots of.And, of course, there is the ubiquitous mallard. I try to ignore this species because they are so common, but that is often difficult to do when they fly nearby.
Redheads can also be a challenge, but every now and then I get lucky with them - birds that is!!But with all of the different opportunities, pintails are still my species of choice. I wonder if that will change in future years. My best shot of a single pintail drake I took 2 years ago, but there is always room for improvement - and that perfect shot!!