When wildlife photographer Brent Cizek bought a small plastic boat last winter, he was hoping to ply the lakes of northern Minnesota and capture the most intimate scenes of animals in their natural environment. He had no idea how intimate he would get. But it wasn't until June that he truly tested the little boat on one of the state's bigger bodies of water, Lake Bemidji.
"Well,
it wasn't the greatest idea as it was quite windy that day and the waves were
tossing my boat around in any direction that it wanted to," Cizek tells
MNN. "I decided to carry on, knowing that it wasn't likely that I would
see anything, much less be able to take a photograph with the choppy
water."
He
managed to steer his boat along the shoreline. Then he spotted what seemed to be
a gathering of birds. As Cizek edged nearer, he could make out a mother duck —
a common merganser — and trailing her were ducklings. One… two… three...
"The
closer that I got, the more my heart started racing as I had never witnessed
something like this before," Cizek recalls.
The
brood had swum under a boat dock. When they emerged, Cizek counted more
ducklings.
25…
26…
His
boat was still getting tossed around on the choppy waters of Lake Bemidji, and
the family kept disappearing under docks. Cizek eventually decided to bring his
boat back to the launch. Maybe he'd see that gathering of mergansers again. And
he did. On the very beach where he was heading.
"As
I got closer, the group decided to start swimming back out into the lake, and
'Mama Merganser' got out front and all of the chick got in tow."
33…
34…
"I
knew that this was going to be an once-in-a-lifetime photo opportunity, so I
immediately tried to fire off as many shots as I could, just hoping that one of
the photos would turn out."
55…
Mama
Merganser was being followed by a staggering 56 ducklings. (However, it's worth
noting that this brood is very likely a mixed family, not a single brood. In
fact, one Minnesota ornithologist humorously called it a "day-care
thing," with one bird taking the lead for many fledglings, no matter how
they all came together.) Meanwhile, a breathless Cizek finally raced home to
see if he had any good pictures.
"I
found one image that was in focus and that I just loved," says. "I
knew that it would do well on social media, so I posted the photo right
away."
It
didn't take long for that intimate portrait of Mama Merganser and her
extraordinary group to take off from that Minnesota Lake and shoot across the
world. Over the last month, Cizek has been getting calls worldwide from
newspapers and even Jimmy Fallon. But most importantly for Cizek, the image —
and the story behind it — was featured on the National Audubon Society's
website.
Cizek,
an ardent wildlife lover, is a strong supporter of the organization's mission
to protect birds and their natural environments. He's hoping his
"once-in-a-lifetime" image will inspire people to stand up for
animals like Mama Merganser and her many ducklings. And make a donation to the
Audubon Society.
As
for Cizek, not even the rough waters of Lake Bemidji could keep him from going
back to check on that feathered family. On a more recent outing, the line of
ducklings seemed even longer.
73…
74... 75…
"I
was able to then count 76 babies with her, so she had picked up more babies
along the way," he says. "It's been remarkable. It's going to be a
sad day when they continue their migration."