Common birds seem to be a theme in the past few days I have been out. This healthy male mute swan was standing near his almost fully grown young with his partner. As I walked toward the waters edge I came a bit close passing him by and he eyeballed us the whole way. His breast was a tad hot in the highlights, but not blown by histogram standards. He was a perfect specimen and I couldn’t refuse taking his portrait.

Mostly mallards were at Wolfe’s Pond, but there was some fantastic behavior to be witnessed. It may still be winter, but this male already is looking to pass on his genetics with this female.

This shot tells more a story then it being great all by itself. I was waiting for one of these geese to fly. The pond near Mount Loreto had thawed a bit and there were finally some birds taking advantage. As I approached one of the flock flew right over my head. I thought this would be a great opportunity so I waited to see if they would follow suit.

Unfortunately there was a lot going on in the background and a few dead trees within the pond got in the way as I panned. A big thing that I still practice is controlling yourself and keeping cool as the moment springs into action. If you are waiting on a subject to take flight more often then not things are tense. You may look/feel calm, but as soon as they burst for the sky you are either punching that shutter or panning before it fully takes off. Impulse control is a great thing to have and it will help vastly with situations like these. The more you practice the better you will become.