Ducks this time of year....

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...are beautiful. I took a drive out to where I duck hunted last fall and all the lakes are mostly broken up and ice-free. Saw a few bufflehead pairs and what I think were a lot of redheads in their full mating plumage. Some could have been canvasbacks. Possibly some ruddy ducks in silhouette. I wish I had some pictures but it was so damn windy I had trouble enough holding the binoculars steady to get positive IDs from 300 yards away. Maybe I'll get out there again sometime this week. I love spring! Pretty soon some of the plants in my neck of the woods will be breaking dormancy. Pictures to come, I'm sure!

Re: Ducks this time of year....

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Drove out to my favorite lakes yesterday at dawn. Man. Any birders here? Just thought I'd post in case there are. I'm not much of a birder myself, but I'm kind of getting into it. Seems like they might just be as weird as plant people. I know a lot about birds that I hunt. But with songbirds, non-game, etc., jeez...I should probably expand my horizons. No pictures yet. My camera is only good to about 20 yards. But here's a list of what I saw yesterday morning.

-Thousands of redheads
-Some canvasbacks
-some bluebills (lesser scaup, maybe some greaters)
-some buffleheads
-possibly some common goldeneyes (some swam into my mallard decoys last fall right at freeze up; I could have mistaken them for hen buffleheads (I was far away with binocs), now that I think about it; less likely some Barrow's goldeneyes, given my location in SE Wyoming)
-a few mallard groups
-3 pintail pairs
-some wigeon groups
-some shoveler groups
-Canada geese trying to pair up and mate (these things are vicious... there are definitely dominant males that will try to chase away any other male while trying to jump on a female)
-a couple groups of pelicans (I think American white pelican from books...gnarly looking birds...)
-a couple of eared grebes
-a pair of sandhill cranes
-2 or 3 coot (how do these things migrate? Everytime I see them during hunting season they seem to barely be able to get up off the water and hardly move more than 200 yards)
-a couple flocks of redwing blackbirds, I think. I didn't really pay attention to them because I was looking at the ducks.


I thought the pelicans were swans when I was driving before it got light enough to really see. I have no experience with either those or swans.

I hope I can get out at dawn tomorrow and get some photos. Full camo just like I was hunting in but without the gun. Fishing tackle and camera instead. Do any birders put out decoys to get good photos? Is that a "bad" thing? I sense there might be a schism between birders and hunters.

(Edit: editing as more species and thoughts come to my mind from what I saw yesterday)
Last edited by JamesH on Sun Apr 07, 2013 5:31 am, edited 5 times in total.

Re: Ducks this time of year....

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I've gotten into bird watching a bit the last couple of years myself. I watched an Osprey eat a fish on a dead branch about 100' up yesterday. We have a pretty good population of Bald Eagles around here, too. I like getting the binos out during a storm and watching the birds, they come down low and hide anywhere they can, there will be seemingly hundreds of them in every bush.

For Winter solstice I treated myself to a new pair of binoculars for hunting and bird watching. I got Vanguard Endeavors in 8.5x45, they are Chinese but really amazing optics, especially for the price. The 8.5 power is great for hunting and bird watching but I sometimes still find myself grabbing my old Bushnell 10x42's for a closer, if less bright look.

If anyone is in the market for a high end bino, these are definitely worth a look.

http://www.vanguardworld.com/index.php/ ... 1-176.html

Looking forward to pictures, James! :)
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: Ducks this time of year....

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Mason wrote:I've gotten into bird watching a bit the last couple of years myself. I watched an Osprey eat a fish on a dead branch about 100' up yesterday. We have a pretty good population of Bald Eagles around here, too. I like getting the binos out during a storm and watching the birds, they come down low and hide anywhere they can, there will be seemingly hundreds of them in every bush.

For Winter solstice I treated myself to a new pair of binoculars for hunting and bird watching. I got Vanguard Endeavors in 8.5x45, they are Chinese but really amazing optics, especially for the price. The 8.5 power is great for hunting and bird watching but I sometimes still find myself grabbing my old Bushnell 10x42's for a closer, if less bright look.

If anyone is in the market for a high end bino, these are definitely worth a look.

http://www.vanguardworld.com/index.php/ ... 1-176.html

Looking forward to pictures, James! :)
I don't know. I'm glad you're happy with them. I bought some Nikon 10x42 trailblazers a couple of years ago after using some compact binocs that got handed down to me. Best purchase I ever made, and these aren't even very good. I can't see myself going below 10x or 42mm. I think I just spend so much time looking through them. How does the 8.5x work with 45mm objective? My upgrade won't necessarily be more power, but maybe a larger objective lens. Maybe a 10x50mm. I think if I need more power, I'd just go to a spotting scope with a tripod. I've learned that I have no problem carrying the weight. People complain about it, but it's such a minor inconvenience if you have the right straps.

Re: Ducks this time of year....

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I researched this purchase for about six months. I'm a big Nikon fan and was originally going for one of the Monarch lineup. I checked out Leupold, Bushnell and Steiner at Bass Pro. The Endeavors are better. They are truly amazing from the tree stand at dawn and dusk. Blow away my Bushy's or Nikon 10x50's. Their biggest issue is too much contrast in bright light.
'Sorry stupid people but there are some definite disadvantages to being stupid."

-John Cleese

Re: Ducks this time of year....

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Mason wrote:I researched this purchase for about six months. I'm a big Nikon fan and was originally going for one of the Monarch lineup. I checked out Leupold, Bushnell and Steiner at Bass Pro. The Endeavors are better. They are truly amazing from the tree stand at dawn and dusk. Blow away my Bushy's or Nikon 10x50's. Their biggest issue is too much contrast in bright light.

I'll have to check them out. Do they make scopes? I made the mistake before of buying a rifle scope without fully researching other companies and what they had to offer. I bought it on name alone. Big mistake. I actually sold the thing just a few weeks ago. I hope I never make that mistake again. At least I got 2/3 back of what I paid for it. Could've been worse.

Re: Ducks this time of year....

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Mason wrote:
If anyone is in the market for a high end bino, these are definitely worth a look.

http://www.vanguardworld.com/index.php/ ... 1-176.html

Looking forward to pictures, James! :)
Sounds interesting. I'm more interested for astronomy uses and have been tweeked by years in the military so I'm always prefering 7x35's... I'll have to see if they make some.
Live like you will never die, love like you've never been hurt, dance
like no-one is watching.
Alex White

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