Sunday 24 April 2011

Ducks galore !!

Recently I saw a picture taken by a workmate of a Mandarin duck, which took me by surprise as I didnt expect to see one on the Isle of Wight! He told me he saw it at a small pond just outside Brading so last tuesday I drove the couple of miles in the hope of seeing one of these beauties!
Imagine my surprise when I got there to see lots of unusual ducks most of which I had never seen before!
The light was absolutely perfect, filtering through the overhead willow. A tufted duck was closer than I had ever seen before.
A beautiful pintail looked splendid in the dappled shade
I was in my element, my love of photography and birds was being satisfied to the utmost! The male Red-crested pochard was next.
I finally spotted the beautiful male mandarin, what a beauty!!
I had such a good time I decided to return the following day and captured lots more images. The guy who has this collection of ducks certainly has a superb selection. Next up was a beautiful shelduck.
Ringed Teal...
Chiloe wigeon...
Wood duck...
Female mandarin...
Male Pochard...
And a couple which Im not sure of at the moment, if anyone knows what they are called? ...

So, I had a wonderful couple of afternoons at this newly discovered gem! Definately going to go back soon and see how they are doing  :)

4 comments:

  1. Gorgeous shots! I can't ID your mystery ducks but I've only ever seen a red and blue bill like the one on your white duck on a White-cheeked Pintail. I believe more than one member of the New World pintails may have bills like that.

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  2. Thanks mike, I agree the blue and red bill is similar to a white cheeked pintail, maybe its a juvenile? I will have to return and see if its colouring has changed!

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  3. Thanks Mike, further research online confirms a white cheeked pintail. Just found a site which has Reference photos for all but two of the world’s 159 species its at: http://ontfin.com/Duck/index.php
    Cheers!

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  4. Hi Dave!
    I'm an aspiring high school artist and we have an assignment to enter the "Federal Junior Duck" contest. Would these photos be available for artistic use?
    Thank you,
    Allegra

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