Showoff!

Gallery: AvianPosted October 2, 2013299 views11 comments

I found this pair in Bayou Sauvage yesterday. My knowledge of duck species is not good but looking at Sibley's it appears to be either northern mallard or mottled duck. There was a lot of vegetation in the FG that distracted, so this is cropped about 65% of original. I liked the postures of the birds, thus the title. Larger image included.

E-5 ZD300 F2.8 +EC-20 Wimberley I on GT2531, ISO 400 1/400 f5.7 +0.7EV

Comments

11 comments

Comment posted by Philip Hodgkins on October 2, 2013 at 12:26 PM

The one on the right is probably a female mallard. Not sure of the one on the left. Excellent pose on both with a nice low angle and an uncluttered background.

Registered on July 24, 2006, 2741 Posts, 12349 Comments

Comment posted by Richard Ditch on October 2, 2013 at 12:32 PM

I think of Mottled Duck as a Florida specialty and don't know how large the range is, so the first thing to do is check a good filed guide to see if the range map includes the location for this shot. Or just wait for Ron B. to comment who knows these birds better than anyone else.

I like this as posted. A quite interesting pose indeed, and wonderful soft light.

Registered on November 1, 2003, 1031 Posts, 12705 Comments

Comment posted by Nate Chappell on October 2, 2013 at 2:13 PM

Excellent image Bill, love the pose on the left bird and good dof here. These look like Mottled Ducks to me. I don't know about MS or LA but they are not uncommon here on the Texas coast and in the Rio Grande Valley as well as FL.

Registered on February 1, 2006, 1158 Posts, 19528 Comments

Comment posted by Bill Leggett on October 2, 2013 at 2:49 PM

Thanks, guys. Rich and Nate, at first I was puzzled by the dark portions of the bill, as Sibley's shows that on the Northern Mallard female, but the guide shows it here only in the winter. It also shows the Mottled year-round in portions of the South, including coastal Louisiana. I'm going to email this to a former coworker who is an avid duck hunter. Thanks again.

Registered on July 21, 2004, 706 Posts, 3233 Comments

Comment posted by Robert Bunch on October 2, 2013 at 5:04 PM

Good lighting, good BG an interesting pose and I like the low angle. Very nice shot.

Registered on May 18, 2004, 124 Posts, 2503 Comments

Comment posted by Ken Archer on October 2, 2013 at 8:17 PM

Sweet stretching pose you captured Bill

I really like the feel of the environment of this photo. Nice detail on both ducks.

Registered on October 28, 2004, 222 Posts, 6683 Comments

Comment posted by Ellen deBoer on October 3, 2013 at 5:09 AM

Very nice and funny image, Bill! I really like the contrast between the two ducks. I could do with a little more space on the left side though.

Registered on March 16, 2006, 419 Posts, 2076 Comments

Comment posted by Jenaya Launstein on October 3, 2013 at 6:00 PM

Haha, showoff indeed! What a cool image! My opinion for the species is a Mottled Duck as I've never seen mallards that look like this.

Registered on February 8, 2011, 254 Posts, 1302 Comments

Comment posted by Sharon Hallowell on October 4, 2013 at 12:11 PM

Another vote for mottled, and I like your image....real nice light and good poses. Sharon

Registered on November 1, 2003, 392 Posts, 4810 Comments

Comment posted by Rob Drummond on October 6, 2013 at 8:04 AM

Great setting and pose Bill. Nice to get both in focus

Registered on November 8, 2003, 617 Posts, 8267 Comments

Comment posted by Mike Ramy on October 13, 2013 at 9:35 PM

Great Image Bill in all respects as noted by everyone,
Congratulations on the WP . . .

Registered on June 16, 2012, 567 Posts, 2809 Comments