At this time of year if the mornings are clear there is a perfect golden moment as the sun rises above the hills and illuminates everything before it. The moment lasts about 10-15 minutes and then slowly fades as the angle of light sharpens. This shot illustrates the light perfectly, taken at 8:13 this morning.
Just five minutes earlier it was only the airborne creatures that caught the sun as they flew over the pond. 
And by about 8:20 the light had already lost that rich hue, as the sun rose slightly higher. I'm not about to complain. It was cold out there today, and 15 minutes is ample time to be fiddling with camera controls with frozen fingers.
One shot from later in the day… the sun was still doing it's best and at this time of year is relatively low in the sky whatever the time of day. This is at 12:45. The light was not bad, but certainly nothing like so good as at the start of the day.
Camera note: all shots taken with the Canon 7D and EF 100-400mm f/4.5-5.6L USM IS lens.
RobinL
6 Dec 2011Words, great shots! Love the gold water! This last shot pretty well qualifies as a "gaggle!"
derWandersmann
6 Dec 2011Really excellent shots, Words!
studio41
6 Dec 2011very beautiful- all! I like the gold 🙂
Cynthia23
6 Dec 2011Those 15 minutes or so … so lucky to have you awake to photograph it and post for our eyes. :coffee:
cakkleberrylane
6 Dec 2011Gold indeed! Very nice shots!
Mickeyjoe-Irl
6 Dec 2011So not even a golden hour, but you've done a lot with the time you do have.
Words
6 Dec 2011dW, thanks!
Words
6 Dec 2011Cynthia, I have to be awake… I get these just before I start work in the morning.
Words
6 Dec 2011Jill, thanks!
Words
6 Dec 2011Lois, thanks!
Words
6 Dec 2011Mick, it is literally about 15 minutes from when the sun creeps above the hills and the light cuts across to the pond until it rises, the angles change or it hits the cloud bank and loses strength. But for those few minutes it's perfect.
Words
6 Dec 2011Robin, thanks! I pretty much have to avoid looking through the camera on the first shot… I occasionally use the 'live' mode or otherwise just pick a focusing point and fire blind.
derWandersmann
7 Dec 2011Where the blue of the night
Meets the gold of the day …
SittingFox
7 Dec 2011Very beautiful shot of the ducks. I can empathise with the "frozen fingers" issue though :smurf:
derWandersmann
7 Dec 2011Glomitts, dammit! Glomitts! Google it!
Words
8 Dec 2011dW, OK! OK! I googled! They look just the job. Now to find a local stockist. :sherlock:
Words
8 Dec 2011Adele, thanks. Someone was feeding them just along from there. Always good for getting a gathering.