I injudiciously chased down these two while trying to appear not to be doing so. They hang out a bit further down the water from us, because there is an old woman who feeds them.
The white of the female is a bit boring, but I do love the look of the male. The colors are so varied. I remember my first encounter with mallards. It was a DIY quilted sheet which had stitch lines around the various colors. Never having seen such a creature before I assumed it was a cartoon representation, and was astonished to discover them in real life.
I also like that I never see just a single one, but the pair. And in this case, the female is always in front.
However, my favorite ducks so far encountered, must be the muscovy. There is a family of three (or four when they’re not fighting). I’m told that I’ve encountered them before when we lived in the Midwest, but I do not recall it. I saw them here for the first time on Thanksgiving morning and felt like I’d discovered a new species of bird. It didn’t seem possible that people already knew of their existence.
At any rate, here they both were today, in the backyard. Watched over, for a time, by a snakebird.
- Aperture: ƒ/5.6
- Camera: Canon PowerShot SX510 HS
- Focal length: 45.83mm
- ISO: 250
- Shutter speed: 1/80s