Chasing Wood Ducks at the Dinky Line Trail Back at the Dinky Line Trail chasing Wood Ducks — close but never quite close enough.

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Chasing Wood Ducks at the Dinky Line Trail I am not sure why Wood Ducks were the first thing on my mind. I wanted to go out and do some bird photography, somewhere close — somewhere I could reach in under thirty minutes. And for whatever reason, my thoughts landed on Wood Ducks. I ran through the short list of places where I had seen them in past years. Two came to mind: the man-made marsh at Charles H. Rogers Wildlife Refuge in Princeton, and The Dinky Line Trail in Princeton Junction. Last summer I had stumbled across several Wood Ducks at The Dinky Line Trail, near a tributary of Little Bear Brook. I had approached too quickly. The birds startled and flew off to a section of the marsh that was well beyond the reach of my lens. That memory was enough to decide it. I would go back. Canada Goose · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 3200 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 The Dinky Line Trail is about fifteen minutes from home. I arrived around 7:30 AM on Saturday and parked near Alexander Park Drive, closer to the footbridge this time. Last summer I had walked the long way around the retention pond from Vaughn Drive, photographing dragonflies. But I was not expecting dragonflies in early April. Parking closer to the footbridge saved time. American Robin · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 200 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 Near the parking area, Canada Geese waddled about, leaving their green calling cards on every patch of grass. I approached the tributary slowly — much more carefully than I had last summer. No Wood Ducks. But a Canada Goose came swimming straight toward me along the tributary, unbothered. Canada Geese, it turns out, are not especially worried about humans. Red-winged Blackbird · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 160 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 I walked the asphalt section of the trail toward Little Bear Brook and stopped on the footbridge for about twenty minutes. The light was good, the sky clear. An American Robin perched on top of a lichen-covered dead snag. A Red-winged Blackbird claimed another. Common Grackles occupied the bare branches of a dead tree, and European Starlings filled the tops of the remaining trees lining the brook. In the early morning light, the Grackles looked almost entirely black — only the angle of the sun gave away that iridescent blue-green sheen. Common Grackle · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 160 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 I turned my lens north-east toward the old railroad bridge where the Dinky Line tracks cross Little Bear Brook. I noticed the Canada Geese and Mallards first — and then, while watching them, I picked out the Wood Ducks among them. One was slightly closer to the footbridge, but still frustratingly far. This is the recurring problem with Wood Ducks. They are skittish. You cannot get close. And at 600mm, the Fujinon XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR does not quite have the reach I need to fill the frame the way I want to. Wood Duck · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 1000 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 The other problem was the light. At that time of morning from the footbridge, the lens is pointing north-east — directly into the sun. The images came out heavy with shadow. Ideally I would want the sun at my back. That probably means returning to The Dinky Line Trail in the late afternoon, when the sun has moved to the west and the light falls on the right side of the marsh. But that only works if the Wood Ducks are closer to the footbridge. Two conditions that need to align. Mallard · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 1000 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 I moved on. I doubled back toward the tributary, then walked north-east along the trail to where it runs alongside the train tracks before stopping abruptly. I turned around and walked back toward where I had parked the car. Eastern redbud trees were in full pink bloom near the parking area, standing out against the still-bare oaks behind them. A half dozen Common Grackles were flying between the leafless trees and the ledge of a nearby building. I watched them for a few minutes, just curious. I got one shot of a Grackle perched on a bare branch, the iridescent blue-green of its plumage just visible in the spring light. Alexander Park, Princeton Junction · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 320 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 150 mm · f/5.6 I made one more pass at the footbridge before leaving. The waterfowl — Geese, Mallards, Wood Ducks — had moved to a section of the marsh I could not see from where I stood. I could hear them, though. Common Grackle · Saturday 4 April 2026 FujiFilm X-T3 · ISO 320 · 1/500 sec XF150-600mmF5.6-8 R LM OIS WR · 600 mm · f/8.0 Maybe I’ll go back on Monday. The weather is supposed to hold. Maybe the Wood Ducks will drift a little closer to the bridge. Maybe the light will be different. Maybe I’ll finally get the shot I’ve been after since last summer. Bird photography has a way of keeping you coming back on that particular kind of hope — not quite confidence, not quite certainty, but enough to get you out of bed early and into the marsh again. ### Like this: Like Loading...

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