Hoodies

One of the unexpected pleasures of this new office is the fact that some nice birding can be done just by walking around the block of buildings which make up the office complex. The buildings are all connected by sidewalks and various sizes of retention ponds scattered from place to place. Haven't had a chance to really scan the lakes across the street but that can't hurt the bird counts.

I was trying to anticipate the different types of birds I might be able to see daily as compared to the other location. Warblers? Sure. Goldfinches? No doubt. Hooded Mergansers? Crazy. No way. Yet, here they are. Hanging out in the pond just across the street from our main entrance.



What started out as a single pair grew to two which I watched for days during some courtship displays (more on that in a future post) and as of yesterday there are 4 pairs. They all hang out together and now use the overhang of a parking area as a cave to hide in when people approach.

So, how to get some good shots with just my Olympus C-720?

Decided to try and out-flank them. I made my way around the pond and up onto the parking area. Since they were under the structure, to them I should appear to have left. Sure enough, after just a couple of minutes they began to head back into the main area of the pond. Of course, I had to walk to edge to confirm this which scattered them back under and in another direction.

So I waited farther back for a few more minutes and let them go even farther into the pond and begin feeding. This worked well. By the time I got to the edge of the parking lot (the mouth of their "cave") they had little choice but to watch me and go about their business.

Eventually, they began to do a kind of side-step in the water so that they were more on my right side. From there they decided they had enough distance to get back under the parking lot safely. But they had to pass right by me.



Then I left them undisturbed. For now.