I locked on to one of the mallard drakes and when he flew past I was able to take some nice photos of him before he landed on the water
Photographing the Mallards in flight in golden afternoon light was a terrific way to end my bird photography session for the evening.
After bathing the Mallards lift up, flap their wings and shake the water off and I have also noticed them repeat the process of bathing several times in succession. Bathe, shake, flap.
The Ruddy Duck hen was photographed at a pond close to where I live during the evening hours and I loved the golden light on the bird and on the water.
I don't often have the opportunity of taking photos of ducks that are flying straight at me while coming in for a landing which is exactly what this drake mallard did.
I haven't seen many chicks yet this spring but yesterday I saw a Mallard hen with her ducklings swimming behind her on a local pond and I had to aim my lens at them.
Mallards form pairs in the fall and courtship can seen during the winter and seeing them mating in February isn't all that unusual.
Early in January I photographed an American Coot being chased by two Mallards for the food it carried in its bill.
I spent about 40 minutes photographing the gulls, ducks and geese in the snow storm here in northern Utah yesterday and had a lot of fun doing it.
I noticed a Mallard hen and was watching and photographing her when the gulls swarmed around her like bees do honey and caught her immediately after a Ring-billed Gull grabbed her bread right out of her bill.
Because I was close I wasn't able to get a single image with all of the ducklings and the hen in the frame so I focused on the Mallard hen and with one duckling resting right behind her.
I was able to take a Mallard drake portrait of one of the ducks that were close and loved how this showed the blue green iridescence.
Yesterday at Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge I was able to photograph a Mallard drake as it lifted off from the water on the south side of the auto tour loop.
Three years ago today though the ground was covered in drifts of snow, the temps were below freezing, there was ice on the ponds & lakes and there was a sharp briskness to the air that can only be found in winter.
As I write this the first snow of winter is falling outside my living room window. For the past week I have seen the snow on the mountain tops and I had been looking forward to seeing the snow covering the Salt Lake Valley.
I believe these to be Mallards but if I am wrong I don't mind being corrected, I do have trouble with female duck ID at times and I appreciate all the help I can get with them.
It seems that people either love high key images or they hate them. Personally; I believe that when a high key image is done well that they can be very appealing and have a place for them in my portfolio.
Another wonderful change that I have been seeing is that a variety of duck species have been arriving at the Great Salt Lake