Wood duck

[BrentC]

Was a great day yesterday with some actual sunshine. Took a lot of shots of this guy and his mallard mate.

1.
Wood duck portrait by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

2.
I swear this is where my contacts fell out by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

3.
Wood duck by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

4.
Meet cute by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

5.
Wood duck by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

6.
Star crossed lovers by Brent Cameron, on Flickr

 

[WesternGuy]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

 

[birdbonkers84]

That first one is a craaaaacker! Such lovely colours and sharp eye!

 

[BrentC]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

Thanks. A lone wood duck in the winter, on a lake and hanging out with mallards and swans. Might be him with the problem. Female mallards don't seem to care about who they mate with, which is why there are lots of hybrids out there. The locals told me that these two have been mates for three years now. They haven't had any offspring yet. But cute watching them go everywhere together.

 

[BrentC]

That first one is a craaaaacker! Such lovely colours and sharp eye!

Thanks. It was hard to isolate him among 50 or so other mallards and swans all grouped together. Wish I could get better background for the shots.

 

[baturn]

Great set!

 

[PJcam]

Very nice Brent, great set.

 

[Dean_Gretsch]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

Thanks. A lone wood duck in the winter, on a lake and hanging out with mallards and swans. Might be him with the problem. Female mallards don't seem to care about who they mate with, which is why there are lots of hybrids out there. The locals told me that these two have been mates for three years now. They haven't had any offspring yet. But cute watching them go everywhere together.

It isn't just female mallards. I read the males will have homosexual relations if a receptive female isn't around

 

[BrentC]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

Thanks. A lone wood duck in the winter, on a lake and hanging out with mallards and swans. Might be him with the problem. Female mallards don't seem to care about who they mate with, which is why there are lots of hybrids out there. The locals told me that these two have been mates for three years now. They haven't had any offspring yet. But cute watching them go everywhere together.

It isn't just female mallards. I read the males will have homosexual relations if a receptive female isn't around

Ahh, but with different species? So far I have only seen female mallards with other species. The weirdest was a hooded merganser that must have been less than half the size of the mallard. It was cute watching him chase all the very larger male mallards away.

 

[WesternGuy]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

Thanks. A lone wood duck in the winter, on a lake and hanging out with mallards and swans. Might be him with the problem. Female mallards don't seem to care about who they mate with, which is why there are lots of hybrids out there. The locals told me that these two have been mates for three years now. They haven't had any offspring yet. But cute watching them go everywhere together.

Brent, thanks for the information. Didn't realize that this type of "hybrid" could happen, but then, we don't have a lot of Wood ducks here, but we do have an overabundance of mallards, a lot of which stay here all winter. I don't really pay too much attention to their mating habits.

WesternGuy

 

[WesternGuy]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

Thanks. A lone wood duck in the winter, on a lake and hanging out with mallards and swans. Might be him with the problem. Female mallards don't seem to care about who they mate with, which is why there are lots of hybrids out there. The locals told me that these two have been mates for three years now. They haven't had any offspring yet. But cute watching them go everywhere together.

It isn't just female mallards. I read the males will have homosexual relations if a receptive female isn't around

I hadn't heard that, but then we have an overabundance of mallards and very few wood ducks, but I am not an observer of their mating habits.

WesternGuy

 

[WesternGuy]

Neat shots, #3 and #5 are my favourites. So, the mallard thinks it is a wood duck? Must have had a screwed up childhood.

WesternGuy

Thanks. A lone wood duck in the winter, on a lake and hanging out with mallards and swans. Might be him with the problem. Female mallards don't seem to care about who they mate with, which is why there are lots of hybrids out there. The locals told me that these two have been mates for three years now. They haven't had any offspring yet. But cute watching them go everywhere together.

It isn't just female mallards. I read the males will have homosexual relations if a receptive female isn't around

Ahh, but with different species? So far I have only seen female mallards with other species. The weirdest was a hooded merganser that must have been less than half the size of the mallard. It was cute watching him chase all the very larger male mallards away.

Learn something new every day. I will have to pay more attention to what the female mallards are doing the next time I am at the sanctuary.

WesternGuy

 

[OldManJim]

Nice shots - you really nailed #1