That’s “daffy duck-displays” not “Daffy Duck displays!” For years I’ve been trying to capture the comic breeding displays of the Hooded Mergansers and Common Goldeneyes. Mostly unsuccessful in years past, this spring I did have a modicum of success. When several males are vying for one female, the action gets intense. Male Goldeneyes extend their necks vertically then throw their head violently backwards at the same time as their tail end comes up (so far that their feet actually come out of the water!) and bleat a cute toy-like buzz [See video below].

Hooded Mergansers have a similar display but with a Vegas-worthy addition—they fan their black and white head feathers into an out-of-proportion crest. The Hooded Merg pictured below is only at “half mast” …but check out the video to see the full-on craziness of a bunch of sex-addled males along the St. Louis River in late March.

The video shows the displays better than the stills. To see the full-sized video go to http://www.vimeo.com/23114536

Stills and Video with the Canon 7D, Canon 400mm f5.6, AT-897 shotgun microphone, Gitzo tripod.

Late March is when River Otters seem to become more visible on the St. Louis River. Maybe it’s because the river ice is breaking up and they spend more time loafing/feeding/playing on the shelf ice conveniently located next to open water. Or maybe that’s when I stop on the Fond du Lac bridge to scan for critters.

Just recently I spotted a family group (five total) using a thin crack in the ice as their access to the river’s surface. I set up my camera and tripod so I could just peek over the edge of the railing and so not disturb them. I watched them for at least 45 minutes. One would come to the surface and drop two or three minnows from its mouth onto the ice, munching the bunch quickly before slipping effortlessly and silently back into the water. Sometimes two would appear and they would bask in the morning sun for a brief minute. One spent a couple of minutes preening its dense water repellant fur.

I love otters…They just seem to love life. Play is as important to them as eating it seems. When traveling overland in winter and across wind-swept lakes, they will run and slide on their bellies for great distances…run…slide…run…slide. I’ve seen three together on the ice, rolling, tussling, having a grand time. We could learn something from otters…Like my mother always said, “Work hard, Play hard” (at least I think she said that).

Most of these images are looking down on the otters from 40 feet up on a bridge…Not a great technique for wildlife photography. You don’t get as intimate a portrait as with eye-level images. The last shot is eye-level and it was taken a week ago on another stretch of the St. Louis when I crawled on my belly across the ice to the shelf’s edge. Every time the otter dove, I’d work my way closer. The otter was fine with me until I crossed that invisible line of his comfort zone…and then he was gone.