Benson & St. David - January 25, 2024

 For a change of pace, I decided to visit the Benson water treatment facility, expecting to find a nice variety of water fowl.  It's about a 45 minute drive to Benson, but one I enjoy since it goes through Tombstone and St. David.  On this day however, the experience was not quite what I had hoped for.  First, it was very overcast in Benson, making long distance photography even more challenging.  My longest lens requires a lot of light to get sharp images.  Second, the ducks were huddled far from the viewing area, where holes in the fence facilitate viewing, so I had to photograph through the chain link fence.  Third, I saw only three species, not the variety I've seen there before.

Despite these little obstacles, I came away with a few acceptable photos, so I'm glad I went.  Further, on the return trip, I spotted a roadside pond with a few ducks of different species, also at a far distance.  Next, I visited the Holy Trinity Monastery pond and found a few domesticated ducks.  Some of them are "crested ducks", a separate species bred to have a crest growing from a soft spot in their skull.  Kind of shocking the first time you see it, but this wasn't my first time.  Some of the ducks were hybrid, as mallards and others are known to mate indiscriminately.  As usual, peacocks roamed the grounds of the monastery, but none offered to spread their tailfeathers for that classic shot.

Northern Shoveler (M)

Northern Shoveler (M)
Northern Shoveler (J)
Northern Shoveler (F)
Northern Shoveler (F)
Mallard (M)
American Coot
American Coot

Bufflehead (M)
Bufflehead (M)
Bufflehead (F)
American Wigeon (M)
Ring-necked Duck (M)
Ring-necked Duck (M & F)

Crested Duck
American Pekin
Muscovy Hybrid
Mallard Hybrid
Peacock

Peacock


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