Some people might call these manky mallards homely, weird or even downright ugly but I prefer thinking of them as oddly beautiful and believe they are worthy of being showcased once in a while.
Because they are very common in most North America Canada Geese are often overlooked as subjects by some bird photographers.
Mallards form pairs in the fall and courtship can seen during the winter and seeing them mating in February isn't all that unusual.
Several of the Gadwalls were tipping their heads under the water to feed when this drake started to flap his wings before settling back down on the water.
In 2017 one of the proposals submitted to the AOS is to rename Ring-necked Ducks to Ring-billed Ducks and I personally am all for the name change!
I'm seeing plenty of goldeneyes around right now and I have also begun to see the male Common Goldeneyes performing their courtship displays.
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.
Ten days ago I photographed a manky mallard at my local pond and when I pulled images of it up on my monitor I discovered that it has a hidden "face" and once I saw it I couldn't un-see it. Do you see it?
Two days ago I was surprised by being able to photograph a Common Merganser hunting close to the shoreline of a nearby pond in Salt Lake County.
Three days ago when the sun broke through the clouds in the afternoon I went to the pond and was able to take several Canada Geese portraits with the blue water of the pond in the background.
This Redhead drake photographed at the refuge in his breeding plumage sure stood out well from the water that was reflecting the spring growth of rushes and phragmites.
I had fun photographing the Common Raven and the Common Goldeneyes yesterday and even though the cold temps made my fingers numb, these birds were the highlight of my day.
There were several hundred Canada Geese on the pond and because I have seen reports of Cackling and Snow Geese in the area I scanned the pond with my lens and spotted a lone Snow Goose.
Near the auto tour route though I saw what appeared to be 250 to 300 Red-breasted Mergansers on the Bear River. I think it was the largest raft of Red-breasted Mergansers I have ever seen.
Red-breasted Mergansers do not breed in Utah, they breed much further north in Alaska, across northern Canada to New Newfoundland and the Great Lakes of Michigan but they do migrate through this area.
Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge hosts up to 13,000 Tundra Swans during November through December where they utilize the freshwater wetland habitats on the refuge.
This beautiful Northern Shoveler drake in breeding plumage was photographed in one of those no hunting areas on New Years Day 2015 at Farmington Bay.
I photographed this Red-breasted Merganser floating on the Gulf of Mexico on an April morning from the shoreline at Fort De Soto, Florida in April of 2008.
I photographed this Canada Goose calling in flight six years ago as it flew over Glover's Pond at Farmington Bay.
One of my favorite photo sessions of that trip last fall was an evening spent with the Trumpeter Swans of southwestern Montana in gorgeous evening light.
On the day I photographed this Wood Duck hen with her duckling the duckweed covered the surface.
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.
Watching and photographing the Tundra Swans lifting off from Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge yesterday was slightly bittersweet for me because I know they will soon be heading north to mate.
It is interesting to see this whirlpool effect of Northern Shovelers on the surface of the Great Salt Lake and to hear the sounds of their bills dabbling in the water.
I think I am as excited as this Canada Goose calling in the snow that I photographed in February of 2013 along the causeway to Antelope Island State Park.
I photographed this Redhead hen yesterday morning at the Bear River Migratory Bird Refuge as she floated on the Bear River.
Canada Geese are very common here in northern Utah and in other parts of North America.
There has only been a few times that I have had the opportunity to get a Red-breasted Merganser portrait and each time it occurred in Florida.
Last December on the way off of Antelope Island I saw huge flocks of Northern Shovelers feeding on the Great Salt Lake and liked how they appeared through my viewfinder.