The Saturday Morning Post: Shooting Ducks at Huntley Meadows

 Huntley Meadows is a county park near where we live. There are a couple of very well designed and maintained trails, and a three long complex boardwalks over a large pond.  It has become a wildlife refuge. A wonderful reuse of the site.  

The site has a history, at one time it was developed as an airship landing field, then a classified military installation, and an early automobile safety testing field. It was bought by the County and developed as a park and wetland. 

There are a couple of loops to walk, about an hour's walk for either option, plus time to see the wildlife.  I have seen about a dozen varieties of duck, Canada Geese,  herons, ibis, several varieties of hawk, beaver, muskrats, turtles, frogs, fish and deer. And one summer a very off course roseate spoonbill.  

On my most recent walk it was ducks.  There are several nesting pairs of Hooded Mergansers in residence, there should be ducklings in a few short weeks.  I saw canvass backs, teal, and pintail, in addition to more common mallards.  The Mergansers are putting on quite a show this season.   

I was not alone, the boardwalk across the back pond, had about $100,000 in super telephoto lenses set up on it.  Lots of duck hunting, and everybody flew away into the afternoon sky.