You arrive early, cover the ground with plastic, set up your gear, and wait. The street noise is distracting as you concentrate on capturing an intimate moment between a couple of ducks.
The ducks do a much better job of ignoring the outside world. They play in the warm water, chat with each other, and hiss at a few other species of birds on the pond at Constitution Gardens.
A few glide by in hopes you are one of the photographers that bring a bit of cracked corn for a treat. Others keep their distance as they look for a mate or flirt with one of the new ducks on the pond.
The weather the past few days has been perfect for duck watching. You learn that the longer you watch the ducks, you begin to identify each breed on the water and how they interact with their fathered friends.
As you finally begin to tune out the outside noise from the streets along the gardens you notice that ducks are a lot like people. Each has its own personality, their own criteria for ducks they want to get to know better, and those they just don’t want to deal with on a warm afternoon in December.
Over the past year, I’ve learned more about ducks than I never imagined possible. Be quiet, patient, and watch for those intimate duck moments. When that moment arrives, you hope to capture it with a simple click of the shutter.
At the end of the day you pick up the gear, cup of cracked corn, and the plastic from the ground. As you leave, you start to hear that distracting street noise has returned.
