Frustrating and gratifying! That’s bird photography for me.

This family of Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) cruised past me in my kayak in the salt marsh on Mobile Sound one winter day a few years ago. The light was golden, the water calmly reflective, and their formation perfect. But then, of course, the moment I click, the two females in the middle turn their heads away. One more addition to a huge collection of “near perfect” shots!

Aww, well. Beautiful anyway, and gratifying, especially because Nature Serve’s conservation rating of this species is “Vulnerable” in Alabama. Nothing motivates my photography more than the desire to share #CreatureEncounters in a way that might, in turn, motivate others to greater appreciation and care of Creation.