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  :)