Hans Toom | Blog

Harlequin Duck

March 13, 2025 - This adult male Harlequin Duck was resting away from the worst of the coastal swells. The Harlequin Duck is uncommon to...

September 02, 2024 - The Wood Duck, adult male in non breeding plumage. was at the Annapolis Royal Marsh. Wood Duck

May 12, 2024 - I returned to Brookfield Marsh to photograph the Canvasback. The light was better, a cloudy dull day. I had to shoot at...

September 06, 2023 - The Common Merganser is the hardest of our three merganser species to photograph. They tend to be very vary of humans pr...

April 16, 2023 - The Ring-necked Duck is an elegant diver common everywhere in Nova Scotia. The hunters that first hunted this bird calle...

December 11, 2021 - These may be my last images of the Mandarin Duck. If the Mandarin Duck is as durable as its only other family member, th...

November 17, 2021 - I encountered a small cluster of Buffleheads in St. Margaret's Bay this morning. It is very challenging to get good phot...

March 16, 2021 - The Greater and Lesser Scaup can be hard to tell apart. On the Greater Scaup the high point of the head is ahead or over...

January 30, 2021 - The Tufted Duck is a Eurasian species but it commonly nests in Iceland. It is an irregular visitor to Nova Scotia and ca...

November 08, 2020 - The Harlequin Duck is a hard bird to photograph not because its shy but because its often found fishing in the surf. Sli...

June 17, 2020 - The Eurasian Wigeon is an annual regular to Nova Scotia often wintering in local ice free ponds and coastal bays. Its a...

May 16, 2020 - The aptly named Redhead is a handsome and rare visitor to Nova Scotia. It breeds in the centre of our continent mostly i...

May 13, 2020 - The Gadwall is an uncommon summertime breeder in Nova Scotia. It can be hard to find and easy to miss except for the con...

May 10, 2020 - The Northern Shoveler was one of the first ducks to return after a Manitoba winter. Laura and I would go to Oak Hammock...

May 06, 2020 - Our native ducks are beautiful and elegant creatures gifted to and by nature. There is no need to kill these birds for "...

May 03, 2020 - The Harlequin Duck is a beautiful bird but quite the challenge to photograph as it moves about in the surf, usually in p...