So help me, as I was watching this fascinating-looking phenomena unfold before me, I heard Ozzy Osbourne exclaim, “Bubbles?! I am the Prince of Darkness, I don’t DO bubbles!”
I was in town to have lunch with a friend and it took me near High Park, so…I stopped in. I am all about maximizing opportunities, after all. It was now late afternoon, the rain had been holding back but was threatening and as I finally found myself beside Grenadier Pond, it began. And bubbles began to appear on the water! Northern Shovelers were around in numbers and clusters of them were trailing each other in back and forth patterns in the water, beaks submerged. Perhaps the rain makes their food source more plentiful near the surface? Or perhaps the rain was just a coincidence and they had been at this before I and the rain arrived.
Northern shovelers have a very specialized beak. We see it as a very interesting shape – it’s easy to understand their name — but this beak is designed as a sieve that allows the duck to skim crustaceans and plankton from the water’s surface. And apparently there was a lot to sieve this day.
These photos were taken at 6400 ISO, which reflected the lighting situation. I was shooting handheld, wishing I had thought to bring my tripod. A lower ISO would have resulted in richer colours, but I am still thrilled to have been able to have captured something that to me was a unique sight.
The water is reflecting the fading colours of fall as the two male shovelers plough through the water.
This gives a closer look at that “shovel.” This image was taken on a different day.
This shows a male and female swimming through a pool of golden reflections on yet a different day. It had been raining, but stopped, with the sun just behind the clouds, giving a lovely diffuse light.
I’m concluding with another bubble shot, this time showing a mallard swimming through them. We can see the raindrops hitting the water. It was amazing to have caught such surreal event. I’ve never seen a pond covered with bubbles.