Weekly #794 - Wildfowl Competition

Winner: Mallard Duckling by Davidwozhere
2nd place: Its behind you by Michaelblue
3rd place; Wildfowl by Sue Riley

You have all certainly my job difficult this morning!!! My winner is Mallard Duckling so over to you David!!

Ducklings on the Village Pond by GarethjMorgan – A great start to the competition The ducklings clustered around the adult on the nest amongst the stumps of reeds make for a very pleasing image. The soft down of the ducklings adds to the overall image

Wildfowl by Sue Riley, what a great capture the spray as the pair take off across the water is beautifully captured along with wing movement. The brown plumage contrasts nicely with the grey looking water. A great action shot to boot!

Egret by Perspicador – the white of the plumage contrasts nicely with the out of focus green background of trees as the bird flies towards the camera. The trailing legs and the beak add to the overall image. Egrets always seem to exhibit a rather languid approach to flying, whi;lst not always that easy to capture in flight!
Mallard Duckling by Davidwozhere - a beautiful sharp image of the duckling with fantastic detail of the plumage, beak and head as it sits nestling amongst the reeds. The bright eye seems to be watching the photographer’s every move.

Tufted Duck by PRYorkshire – a nice shot of a Tufted Duck in its natural environment. The blue of the water contrasts nicely with the duck’s plumage. The ripples on the water and the mildly distorted reflection of the duck make for a very pleasing image.

The Squadron Takes off by Vic Cross – what a great capture with so much going on. It almost makes you wonder what the ground crew will get up to whilst the squadron is away, or will they follow shortly?? Returning to the image, the pink plumage contrasts nicely with the pastel blue of the sky and water with just enough reflection to enhance the image

Its Behind You by Michaelblue – a nice shot of two birds well captured. Really nicely composed with the pair of them filling the frame. Good depth of field and use of shutter speed to freeze the bird’s movement

Heron by NigelK – an interesting composition of a Grey Heron in amongst the foliage with part of the body partially obscured in the sort of setting much enjoyed by these birds, Good detail on the plumage and a glimpse of the water.

Avocets by retsoor – one of my favourite birds in its natural environment. I particularly liked the diagonal aspect of the photograph which takes the eye from the birds on the shore down to those in the water

CUTE by noelcmn – this juvenile fills the frame nicely and is reflected in the distorted ripples of the water. Good detail on the plumage and I particularly liked the drop of water on the end of the beak.

Swan by RawW – a beautiful image of a Mute Swan looking serene in its habitat. Good detail of the plumage with the use of F5.6 to make the background out of focus
Hidden Pochard by drofmit – an interesting shot of the Pochard on its take off run with plenty of action behind and glimpses of the bird partially obscured by the reeds.
Soft and Snug by Flan – a totally different take on the subject showing great detail of a Swan’s plumage. The light and dark aspects of the photograph add to the overall composition

Well done David, a beautiful photograph with great detail in the contrasty light.
You now have to be judge for this week
well done to the placings Micheal and Sue and all other entries as they were of a great standard.
Thanks also to host Mhol for comments and critique

Thanks to MHOL for the competition and judging. Well done to David for a deserved win-love the detail and sharpness. Well done also to Michael and Sue

Well, thank you for the podium place. And well done to Michael for the 2nd place and to Sue for 3rd (also for having avoided the judging task next week!) Thank you MHOL for your succinct comments and for an interesting contest.