Deer Lakes Park, Route 28, 9 Mile Run and Mom’s house. March 1, 2008.

The morning dawned clear and cold; I decided to make a run to Deer Lakes Park to see what I could find there. On my way north on Route 28 I saw many hawks perched on light posts and trees on the side of the highway but I didn’t have a chance to get any pictures of them. I arrived at Deer Lakes Park only to find nothing but Mallards and Canada Geese. I turned right around to try for some of those hawks that I saw on the way north. I was no sooner back on Route 28 heading south when I had my first chance at a Red-Tailed Hawk. However, by the time I had the equipment set-up the hawk was gone. Back into the truck I went. Down the road another mile or so I saw another Red-Tail in a tree alongside the highway; this time my kit was already set up so I was able to start shooting less than a minute after stopping the truck. I was on the side of the road for a little over 5 minutes but I got more than 20 pictures of the hawk in that amount of time.



About 40 minutes after shooting the hawk pictures I pulled into the parking area at 9 Mile Run on the Monongahela River. Right away I saw two photo opportunities: On an old pier piling was perched a young Ring Billed Gull; A second Ring Billed Gull was walking around the parking area. The shots that I got of the first gull would remind you of the type of sea gull pictures that you see on Oceanside resort brochures. I also got plenty of shots of the second gull as he moseyed around the parking lot. Not counting the pictures of the hawk I already had 75 good pictures for the day and I didn’t even look at the river yet which it was time to do.





Since I was in a more open area I had the Teton binoculars on my harness. They give me a better visual reach over longer distances. Looking north on the river, towards Pittsburgh, I saw a few mallards swimming towards me. This time of the year is the start of the Spring waterfowl migration north so I knew that there had to be other species around this area. I turned to face south which is actually up-river(The Monongahela flows south to north) and oh boy what I saw!!! About 100 yards up river from the mouth of 9-Mile Run there was a handful of Canvasbacks, Redheads and Ringneck ducks! The Canvasbacks and Redheads are uncommon in Western Pennsylvania but are more common along the Susquehanna River system. These guys were way off course but I was going to shoot them while I had the chance. Quickly I came up with a plan of attack. I would cross the small bridge over the creek as quietly as possible then try to sneak up river to get some closer shots of the off-course ducks. I started towards the bridge when I heard one, loud “QUACK!!” from the mouth of the stream. That’s an alarm call so I pulled my binos up to my eyes and scanned the creek. I saw several mallards plus a drake and hen Pintail. The drake pintail was looking right at me. It was then that I realized that I was silhouetted against the sky and the Pintail drake gave another alarm call. I tried to set up fast enough to get a shot of the Pintail but he took off before I could do anything. The Pintail species is another that is uncommon in Western Pennsylvania but more common in the central and eastern parts of the state.




Pintails, Canvasbacks and Redheads are extremely wild ducks unlike the Mallards and Canada Geese that nest in relatively close locations to humans. These species of ducks will migrate to and from Northern Canada each year, only passing through Pennsylvania during the migrations in spring and fall. They will always be on the alert for humans and other predators and will spook as soon as they believe that they are in danger. Visit your local lake or pond where Mallards and Canada Geese nest each year and see how soon those species will spook as you approach them. You’ll find that you can get quite close which isn’t the case with the wilder ducks.




Well, after standing as still as possible for a few minutes, I slowly crept across the bridge to check the Canvasbacks and Redheads. I was in luck, they weren’t spooked by the Pintail drake. I checked the creek mouth again to find that the Pintail hen was still there. I set up as quickly and quietly as possible then I was able to get several shots of her. I would have liked to have gotten shots of the drake as well but I will settle for the hen for now.




I now had the task of creeping up on the Canvasbacks and Redheads. One thing that I didn’t factor into my plan was the hard crunchy crust on the snow. I wanted to get as close as I could manage to the ducks while having as few tree branches as possible in my way. The crunchy snow prevented this so I worked my way back to the parking area. I knew that I’d be able to get shots from there with my 40x eyepiece.

I got back to the parking area and connected up the 40x lens. With that on the scope I was able to get some decent pictures of the Canvasbacks and Redheads which were now moving up the river away from me. I had to act fast and I did. The pictures weren’t as good as they would have been if I had been able to get closer to them but they will satisfy me for now.




After I got back to the parking area I noticed that a large flock of gulls landed on a giant chunk of driftwood on the river. When I finished getting the pictures of the ducks I again switched eyepieces and got some shots of the gulls on the driftwood. I’ve had a great day so far and I packed up to leave so that I could hit one more spot.


Earlier in the week I had promised mom that I would stop by for more pictures of “Her” birds. Twenty-five minutes after leaving 9-Mile Run I was pulling up the driveway at mom’s house. I set up my equipment as I did the week before and I quickly snapped another 75-80 shots. My memory card was full and I decided that I had enough for one morning.

After 3 ½ hours and over 700 pictures I sat in mom’s living room and played with her dog while sharing with mom the stories of my best digiscoping day of the year…so far.