Saturday, May 17, 2008

Waterfowl; Sharing the Habitat


A Wood Duck Drake shares a warm sunlit cove with a pair of Mallards

Now that the spring waterfowl migrations are past, we are left with Wood Ducks and Mallards. Both species nest in our area and I am keeping a sharp look out for the first ducklings of the season.

Rain had soaked our area all day yesterday with skies beginning to clear as night fell. I arrived at the lake this morning at daybreak and was met with a stiff breeze and 41F temperature, not exactly ideal fishing conditions but it is my day off and I wasn’t about to miss an outing.

Fishing along the shoreline, I kept my camera handy and was rewarded with this image as I turned into a small cove around 7:30. A pair of Mallards was sharing the sunshine with a pair of Wood Ducks. I tried to capture all four ducks in the frame but the Woodie hen wasn’t about to stick around for the shot.

As a side note; Mallards when approached to closely, flush but the Woodies will typically swim to the shoreline and run into the woods before flushing if they even flush at all. I find observing the differing evasion tactics of the various species

For more Camera Critters visit Misty


18 comments:

Texas Travelers said...

Very well stated about flushing tecniques of birds.

Nice photo. Love Woodies.

Come visit my critters,
Troy

ratmammy said...

I've always loved water fowl photos... love those ducks!

This Is My Blog - fishing guy said...

Salty: That wood drake is really a good looker.

Willard said...

You have got a lot of superb waterfowl shots this spring!

Excellent work!

Mom Knows Everything said...

What pretty ducks! We sometimes get them stopping by for a rest in our pond.

Cath said...

Beautiful colours. They look like they could be wood painted! Excellent shot.

i beati said...

I'd like that framed on my wall- aweinspiring

Trish ~ ♥ ~ said...

great photo, the wood duck is so beautiful

photowannabe said...

Love these ducks Salty, especially the Woodie.
Our temperature got up to 103 today...abit too hot for me. No rain in sight and the fire danger is extreame..Its just the start of a long season.

Juliana RW said...

great shot

Will you visit mine Thanks

Anonymous said...

nice pic

Hope you visit mine too Thanks

Misty DawnS said...

Now THAT is AWESOME!!! Oh my gosh - I absolutely love this picture!

Tom said...

Hi Salty..
I can see how much your Wood Duck look like the Mandarin and by the sound of it the females are skittish in both types. The males will hang around normally but the hens just move for cover.
Tom

Barb said...

Someone needs to tell the one with the green head it's going the wrong way. :)

Anonymous said...

I really like this photo.

Lilli & Nevada said...

Oh wow, it looks so real great capture

Rhea said...

I really love photos of ducks, and I've seen a lot today! I'm loving every minute of it. Thanks for explaining they are mallards and wood ducks. Very nice looking. Thanks for sharing!

Anonymous said...

I love this post: the gorgeous photo, the great information. Don't wood duck males look like decoys? Well, they do to me, an inexperienced birder. We had several stop by as they came north again. But I don't think any stayed. If they did, they are where I can't see them.