There is something rather magical about light and I find the warmer tones of the light during the golden hours most satisfying and pleasing. The added advantage of shooting during the golden hours is that the lighting is somewhat soft and thus the shadows are somewhat less harsh and contrasting. For me, as a photographer of birds, especially migratory birds, the golden hours would be anything between 7:00 a.m. and 10:00 a.m.
During the winters the advantage of photographing migratory birds lies in the fact that they are mostly less active, having faced the winter chill. It is only when the sun rises that they become more active, moving around looking for food. Ducks are at their most playful behaviour during the early mornings. There are chances of your being able to get very close to ducks during the early morning rather than afternoons. I spotted this pair of Common Teals huddled together at the Basai wetland one cold winter morning.
The birds will have become so energised by the heat of the rising sun and a heavy breakfast that after the 10:00 a.m. most of them will have taken to the air. It is exactly for this reason that I have posted birds in flight taken well after ten in the morning. The golden hours extend well beyond ten in the morning, therefore one might still notice the warm tones in the photographs below.
Photographs taken during the golden hours, however, might appear to have oversaturated colours like for example the photograph of the Red-naped Ibis shared below (the Red-naped Ibis is a resident bird). This, in itself, might be a disadvantage for most wildlife photographers. One solution for this might be the habit of shooting in RAW only. That way there would be more options for post-production editing.
