It’s mid-January, and as in much of the country, we are more often than not waking to leaden gray skies in my part of New Jersey. But Saturday dawned gloriously sunny, and I headed out with my camera anticipating excellent shooting conditions.
I stopped first at Audubon’s Plainsboro Preserve, hoping there’d be a variety of ducks on the lake that’s the centerpiece of the park. There were plenty of Canada geese, but not a duck was in sight.
I turned back toward home and stopped in Princeton at the Millstone River Impoundment, where the Delaware and Raritan canal intersects with Carnegie Lake. Bird and photo prospects were better.
Shortly after getting out of my car, I spotted two bald eagles circling over Carnegie Lake. A third eagle showed up a bit later, and I managed a few fair shots of it.
What I initially thought was a handful of common mergansers on the lake turned out to be several dozen. As I stood on the shore hoping for eagle fly-bys, merganers started heading my way.
I blasted off several shots over a span of about 10 minutes. The best of the lot, of a female zipping past me, tops this post. I’m pleased with it, one of the sharpest I’ve taken of a bird in flight. A shot of three males is at bottom.
I leave it to your imagination as to whether the female was chasing or eluding the males.
The Jersey Birder 