By Vladimir Brezina
This week’s photo challenge is Escape. We’ve already posted photos of the sort of passive escapees that we see on our kayak travels, but here’s a more active one…
This happens often. The bird—around here, it’s usually a Canada goose or a mallard duck—will just sit there until the last possible moment, not quite believing that this is happening…
Then it will take off. But more often than not, especially on a narrow river, it will land just a short distance in front, still in the path of the kayak. And a minute or two later the entire performance will repeat… One time I had a duck repeat its escape, with greater and greater exasperation, seven or eight times in a row until it finally got the message that it should circle round and land behind the kayak.
(We usually try to paddle around the birds if we can, especially in winter when they need all their energy. But when there are birds sitting everywhere on the water, it’s hard to avoid them all.)
Ducks do seem to be relatively slow learners. Gulls, on the other hand… By now we have a pretty good idea of the distinct ways in which different bird species interact with passing paddlers. But that’s material for another post… ;-)
Vladimir Brezina (RIP) 
Johna Till Johnson
Wind Against Current 
Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape | Wind Against Current
Interesting bird behavior.
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Over the years, we’ve learned to recognize the behavioral patterns…
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I would be interested to hear more about different birds’ behaviors. Do you think there is a different level of intelligence in different birds?
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Seems that way… we’ll put together a post about our observations! ;-)
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Such an effective photo. Love it.
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Thanks, Colline!
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That’s a funny story about the duck.
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:-)
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great photo.
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Thanks, Gayle! :-)
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I agree that I would love to hear more about the interactions. :)
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We’ll try to make it happen :-)
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Good post!
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Thanks, Svetlana!
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At our lake here the canada gooses don’t escape when i pass them walking, they look at me with a lot of self-confidence ;) . Nice Foto with a strong dynamic ;) ! Lg Anja :)
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They have a lot of self-confidence here too… and rightly so—soon they will outnumber the people!
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Mauybe you’re right ;) , their talks are already louder than ours :D !
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Super image for ‘escape’!
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Thanks!!
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Silly goose.
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Literally…
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Love the shoot. How many times did you have to shoo the little guy before being able to take such a shot? :D
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Just once… I was coming up to him and could see he was going to fly away, so I got my camera ready…
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Good catch then :)
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge: Escape | An Evil Nymph's Blog
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Great shot!
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:-) Thank you!
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Pingback: Weekly Photo Challenge :: Escape | Cheryl Andrews
Great shot! I caught a robin today with my new Iphone and I was tickled pink : )
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Got to be in the right place at the right time… :-)
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Yes I know Mr & Mrs. Perfect example, smiles : )
Kathryn
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Nice shot, you must have a really goos camera and lense. I was able to get a few good shots the other day of canadian geese. I watched a large flock land at a school and was ready with my camera. They were not very friendly as I tried to get closer and they stood their ground. check out my couple pictures I posted.
Michael
Canadian Geese
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Great goose shots you have there :-)
It’s actually a good thing that they stand their ground, because that allows you, and me, to come close enough to get good shots. That’s how I got the shot in this post. That goose just couldn’t believe I was paddling straight at it (not intentionally, but it didn’t know that).
And so, coming close, I didn’t need any fancy camera. This shot was taken with one of my series of Pentax Optio waterproof point-and-shoot cameras, good cameras (and most importantly waterproof!) but nothing special…
Thanks, Michael!
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