Sense a trend here?

It's funny how it works.  I never set a "theme" or a "goal" when I go out shooting.  I usually just keep my eyes open, go to some favorite places, try to find where the weather can be part of the shot, or look for some kind of activity. Here, on 3 different shoots this week, I ended up with a theme.  3 different times I found ducks taking advantages of the weather we've had lately.  So, tonight's post ends up being another duck.  But, this one is a little different.  I always try to post something I think turned out nice.  I mean, who wants to see my "bad" work.  And there is plenty of it.  But, tonight, I post another duck because even though alot of people commented on my past "duck" shots, I think this one beats them all.  Several things caught my eye while shooting in this situation.  I liked the idea of a lone duck coming in while you had all the geese milling around in the background.  I liked the light snow falling in the background.  I liked the fact that I really nailed the focus and sharpness of the duck and was able to keep some "bokeh"(blur) on the background to keep my subject in the forefront and the main subject of the shot while still setting a scene.  I was able to keep the shot tight enough where it only included what I wanted it to include.  The focus and sharpness really brought out the features of my subject and only my subject.  While the content of the shot maybe wasn't the best I've ever photraphed, I think it goes down as one of most technically perfect photos I've ever taken.  Trust me, there were challenges in the shot.  First, and foremost, a moving subject.  I've always struggled following a moving object looking through the viewfinder.  All the white snow can really mess with the exposure of the shot.  Another area that is hard to get right in the camera.  Most of these things can be fixed in post production with software, but not always and it is time consuming so the more that is right in camera, the better. All that being said, I have to give credit to the new camera I got several months ago.  Often times people comment, "You must have a really nice camera".  I usually reply, "Yeah, and Rembrandt had really nice brushes".  I really believe you can get great shots with basic normal cameras, even phone cameras these days.  But, in this case, I think my gear helped me alot.  And maybe this is a sign that I'm actually starting to learn how to use the gear I have.  Or, maybe I just...got....lucky.