Black-bellied whistling ducks
120+ Black-bellied whistling ducks - Blue Heron Wetlands, Titusville FL Nikon Zfc, Nikon 26mm f/2.8
Over the years, one of the favorite locations for my wife and I to bird in Florida is the Blue Heron Wetlands….a water treatment facility in Titusville Florida. The drive along the dikes around the impoundments provides excellent views of many species of water birds, warblers, waders, and raptors. On occasion, we have been treated to nice sightings of Black-bellied whistling ducks. Black-bellied whistling ducks are distinctive waterfowl native to the Americas, particularly found in warm, shallow wetlands from the southern United States to Central America. These medium-sized ducks are easily recognizable by their striking black bellies, white wing markings, and bright orange bills and legs. They are social birds, often seen in groups, and are known for their unique whistling calls that can be heard during their communal flight or when they are foraging for food, which largely consists of seeds and aquatic vegetation. When I say “often seen in groups”, normally we see them in a group of 10 to 20 birds. Today, we were absolutely amazed to see the numbers present at these wetlands. The image above includes around 120 of the ducks and this was only a small section of the shoreline festooned with these fowl. A conservative estimate would be 500 ducks present today at the impoundments closest to the entrance of the refuge.
These handsome ducks are most commonly found along the Mexican border but their range has been expanding over recent years. These whistling-ducks prefer fresh water ponds surrounded by trees, so the habitat at Blue Heron Wetlands is perfect! What a great treat to see these beauties in such great numbers.
While the Black-bellies were by far the most spectacular sighting at the wetlands today, we were also treated to one more tough-to-find target as we were getting ready to exit the property. Wading amongst the duckweed, a beautiful American bittern was slowly plying the waters in search of prey. The bittern normally prefers to stay in high grass where it stretches its neck skyward and blends almost perfectly in with the surrounding vegetation. Here, however, he was easily seen and photographed over a long period of time. What a perfect way to end up the day that had begun with a multitude of rarely seen ducks. Another great day in paradise!
Tech Tip - It’s always great to have options when trying to record a day’s sightings in the field. One of the biggest advantages of DSLRs and Mirrorless cameras with interchangeable lenses is that we have the means to capture images demanding very different points of view. The Bittern seen above was fairly far away and demanded the reach of a fairly long (in this case 600mm) lens. I was trying to capture as much of the bird’s features as possible and surrounding habitat was not a major concern. The 600mm lens worked perfectly for this need. In the first shot of the whistling ducks, however, I wanted to capture as much of the shoreline and its whistler inhabitants as possible. Hence, the need for a wide angle lens. The lens of choice for this shot has a 26mm focal length which drew in a lot of the landscape to allow the large number of birds to be included. As the old saying goes, “It’s a poor carpenter that blames his work on his tool”, but to be honest having the right tool for the job at hand gives the photographer a big jump on being able to capture the desired image.
