I was watching the Mallards on Sunday and everything seemed to be settled down for the afternoon when all of a sudden, from across the pond, several Ducks flew up out of the adjoining creek. Usually they only get spooked when someone is walking their dog in the area but I was the only in one the Park at that time. Several seconds after I took this, a large Racoon climbed up from the creek and walked along the pond side. Mallards went scattering every which direction. Once the Raccoon made his way halfway down the park grounds, the Mallards all formed a line, walking after the Raccoon, quacking violently as if to say “And stay away !!!”. It’s amazing how brave they get when someone is on the run. I’m sure if the Raccoon would have turned around and came back, their story would have changed considerably. It was pretty neat to watch this inter-species moment.
Taken at the Fleetwood Park Pond on Sunday 3-8-2009. Shot with SB-800 flash and Better Beamer FX-4 flash extender powered by a Quantum Turbo pack. Extremely overcast day today forced the dusting off of the flash gear. I was really pushing the shutter speed with this one and the resulting image reflects the inability for the flash to keep up and illuminate the background which, in the end, provided a nice black background for the shot. In other words, I couldn’t re-create this if I tried ;–)
