Half a.sleep duck

Ron, the white on the wing belongs there, it is a natural part of this ducks plumage. The white is showing through a very thin part of the scapular feather that is laying over the greater covert feathers and then continues up as part of the greater covert feathers. This is not a blue-wings teal, but a spot-billed duck, or a hybrid there of. The spot-billed duck is an Asian species, but they are in NA as escapies from collections and by direct transplant.

I was thinking this was a female Mallard or a female Mallard hybrid with something else. Ron covered the wing question. I would like to see a little more room in front of the bird on the right, your exposure and detail look good to me.

Ron, Nice looking duck. I shoot many at the lake by my house. Question, did you use a polarizer when shooting this image? I find the white highlights in water a bit distracting, and a polarizer would have cut down on the glare. You might try cloning them out in Photoshop to see the difference. Just a suggestion.

This duck looks pretty good to me Ron. Ron B covered your questions. As Nate said a little more room in front would be nice.

Nice capture....agree with comments mentioned. For me it looks like the image needs a tad bit of clock wise rotation.

TFS

Thanks for all the comments and help. I will try to do the suggestions you have offered and post soon. I am still learning PS and I move very slowly through it. Audrey for what ever reason, I have not got a polarizer for this lens yet, and I do agree it would improve the photo to get rid of the white glare lines, plus add some space to the front of the duck Nate.
Thanks again,
Ron

I wouldn't generally recommend using a polarizer for bird photography because you lose about 1 stop of light which can be important working in low light or trying to stop the action.

I agree 100% with Nate on the use of polarizers when shooting birds. Polarizers also can have some funky affects on irridescent feathers.

I find it interesting that you don't use a polarizer when shooting birds. There are many swans in the lake by my house and I find it hard to retain the detail in their feathers without using a polarizer, even if I compensate for the exposure. What do you do in such a case - and how would you reduce the glare on the water?

Hi Audrey,
I just reduce the exposure compensation with white birds to try and retain detail. I don't tend to do a lot of shooting against water with glare. When I do I will generally just work with the light and go for a high key type image. In your case (shooting swans against water with glare) it probably does make sense to use one. I shoot a lot of action and bird in flight shots, so the cost of the lost light and slower autofocus make it not worth while using a polarizer for me personally.