Best Laid Plans

A few weeks back I saw a pair of Wood Ducks at the Ridgefield National Wildlife Refuge. Heidi and the boys weren't with me, so I thought I could give them a treat by taking them there and showing them these marvelous birds.

Of course, being a man and laying plans, things were sure not to go smoothly. But this story has a twist at the end.

Upon arriving at the wetland we were immediately taken by the Cinnamon Teal, which were out in force. Attempts to get a clean photo of those were mystifyingly difficult with our telephoto lens. We ended up with shots like this:

After driving the loop, seeing all sorts of wonders, except of course for the Wood Duck, we got hungry and drove off.

Once home Arthur and I were reviewing our photographic record of the trip when what to our wondering eyes should appear.....a Wood Duck in the background of one of the Teal shots:

The Teal with his backside to us, blurry and behind the grass, was the intended subject of this photo.

The Wood Duck in the background, in focus, broadside and unobstructed went unnoticed until "post production".

I think I will make a point to plan more things just so I can laugh at the ensuing comedy of errors.