Well, having featured Mrs. Mallard, I can't ignore Mr. Mallard.
Until I started organizing these photos, I didn't realize how different these 2 male Mallards looked!
Mallard #1.....green head, white neck ring, brown chest, grey back and wings. Typical Mallard male.
Mallard #2....green head, no neck ring , chestnut chest, brownish feathers!
I thought this must be a younger male, but research makes me wonder if it is a Mallard x Black Duck Hybrid. Anyone know?
Drinking
Cleaning
Grey back from above
Mixed colors and textures closer!
The End.....just kidding!
Well.....at least the end of Mr. Mallard!
I wanted to include a couple photos of this lovely white duck.
Doesn't she look like she is having lovely dreams??? So sweet looking with her eyes closed and a dreamy expression. Sort of senuous looking, too. She is actually grooming her sides with her head, rather than sleeping.
Carefully grooming the under wing.
This last shot, I was trying to capture them as they swam through the light on the water and I got this "star" effect.
Star Duck......"Swimming with the Stars?"
Mallard #1.....green head, white neck ring, brown chest, grey back and wings. Typical Mallard male.
Mallard #2....green head, no neck ring , chestnut chest, brownish feathers!I thought this must be a younger male, but research makes me wonder if it is a Mallard x Black Duck Hybrid. Anyone know?
Drinking
Cleaning
Grey back from above
Mixed colors and textures closer!
The End.....just kidding!Well.....at least the end of Mr. Mallard!
I wanted to include a couple photos of this lovely white duck.
Doesn't she look like she is having lovely dreams??? So sweet looking with her eyes closed and a dreamy expression. Sort of senuous looking, too. She is actually grooming her sides with her head, rather than sleeping.
Carefully grooming the under wing.This last shot, I was trying to capture them as they swam through the light on the water and I got this "star" effect.
Star Duck......"Swimming with the Stars?"
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18 comments:
Good catch Mary. I think there possibly can be many different crosses since all these ducks live together. Again, great detail. So nice of each of them to pose for you.
That white one does look like she's dreaming.
I LOVE the effect of the sun on the water!
Have a great week-end.
Becky: You're fast this morning! I barely got this posted. Thanks! I really like the second mallard's mixed look...it had such beautiful feathers on it's back, but the "original" looks pretty cool, too.
Beautiful feather colors on those ducks!
--JB
Beautiful!!!I like the detail of the feathers.The last picture with the star burst effect is beyond words.
This is very interesting Mary. Lovely shots too!!
JB: Thanks! They were really lovely.
Ruth: Thank you...the stars were an accident, but I like them, too :-)
Joan: Thank you..I thought their differences were intersting.
I like the "swimming amongst the stars" photo too!
Cicero: not knowing what you're doing pays off sometimes :-)
Like your swimming with the stars. Brilliant. Mary
I so enjoy all your bird pictures! I wish I got the chance to take even half of them.
Roy: Thanks...got lucky!
Rose: Well.. I hang lots of feeders and they come, and if I stand by the door watching them for hours I get photos. Of course, I don't get anything else accomplished! My house and yard and other stuff would look tons better, if I would put the camera down for a while :-)
Mary: That is one unusual looking duck, I thought it might be immature Mallard but I'm not sure.
Fishing Guy: That was my first thought also, but can't find any photos of how an immature one should look. But I did find photos that indicate that they mate with Black ducks producing hybrids similar to this. One site said something about all the female ducks falling for that "green head" of the male Mallard, which leads to much cross mating :-) I thought that was funny!
The second one is just a younger male molting into his breeding colors which they get at about 6 months of age so if he was hatched this spring, that would be about right. Black ducks do mate with mallards..but this isn't the case here...(ok..I have lots of useless duck info..LOL..)
Such fun shots. I can't get over how white these birds are. The last white ones I saw looked kind of dirty. And I loved the stars in the last photo. Great post.
:-)
Rambling Woods: Thanks! I'm glad to finally know for sure from an expert. I searched for photos on the net to show me a young male, but couldn't find anything. They certainly are pretty at that stage!
2sweetnsaxy: Thanks! Sometimes the white ones I see are dirty, too, but this one was very clean and beautiful.
LOVE this post! The sleeping white duck does look so content!
These are gorgeous! Love that bottom one.
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