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With over 10 million mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) residing in North America alone, the Mallards are one of the best-known and most recognizable ducks. the mallard is a dabbling duck found throughout temperate and sub-tropical areas around the world. The most abundant and wide-ranging duck on earth. The mallard usually inhabits the freshwaters of North America, Europe, Asia, New Zealand, and Australia. Mallards usually feed on plants, such as grass seeds, leaves, stems, and aquatic plants, and vegetation like grains, rice, oats, and corn. However, they are also seen feeding on insects, mollusks, small fish, tadpoles, freshwater snails, fish eggs, frogs, and crustaceans. This Mallard drake was photographed at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.
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As Billy would say…’Windswept and Interesting’ A bedraggled Nuthatch, Sitta europaea foraging on a Silver Birch tree. Insects are the main food source for Nuthatches. The birds search bark and crevices for hidden treats like beetles, spiders etc.
Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.
Nuthatch Notes and Information:
The name nuthatch is derived from nut hacker, reflecting the bird's method of opening up nuts by jamming them into a crevice then hammering at them.
Old country names include mud dabbler and mud stopper, both of which note the bird's curious habit of plastering mud around the entrance hole to its nest.
Unlike the treecreeper, which only moves up the trunk of a tree, nuthatches will move both up and down.
Once a bird restricted largely to south-eastern England, the 20th century witnessed a spread to the north, with breeding in Scotland first confirmed in 1989.
Studies have shown that large gardens with oak trees provide the optimum habitat for this species.
One of the reasons for the expansion seems to be the nuthatch's increasing use of bird feeders and bird tables.
As anyone who has nuthatches visiting their feeders will know, they are bold and aggressive, able to stand their ground when larger birds such as starlings attempt to intimidate them.
They will take food from the bird table to store elsewhere: this can lead to sunflowers sprouting in expected places.
Pairs are strongly territorial throughout the year. The fact that food is stored within the territory strengthens the need to defend it.
Though they will readily adopt nest boxes, they cannot resist plastering mud around the entrance hole, even if the latter is already the right size.
The most favoured natural site for a nuthatch is the old nest hole of a great spotted woodpecker.
Nuthatches are one of the nosiest woodland birds in the early spring, but are relatively silent when breeding.
There are 24 different species of nuthatches in the world: our bird has much the widest distribution, as it breeds continually from Portugal to Korea and Japan.
The nuthatch has never been recorded in Ireland.
Most nuthatches are highly sedentary, seldom moving far from where they hatched.
The average distance travelled by a ringed adult nuthatch is less than kilometre.
No British-ringed individuals have ever been recovered abroad, while similarly no birds ringed on the Continent have been found here.
Individuals breeding in Sweden and Norway have distinctive white underparts, unlike the peachy buff of our birds.
Remarkably, a red-breasted nuthatch from North America spent nearly seven months at Holkham in Norfolk from October 1989 to May 1990.
Perhaps surprisingly, the nuthatch has received little in the way of study in Britain, and most of our knowledge comes from work carried out in Sweden and Belgium.
Numbers are known to fluctuate quite widely from year to year, probably reflecting the availability of seed during the winter living with birds notes.
At the end of January 2025 I spent the morning at WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.
The task for the morning was to get some images of Northern Shovelers in flight.
The Northern Shoveler is my favourite Duck that we see in the UK.
The Northern Shoveler, or Shoveler, is a Dabbling Duck and is common in northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America.
The Shovelers bill has developed a comb like structure on its edges which acts like a sieve to filter out food from the water's.
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The northern shoveler, known simply as the shoveler in Ireland, is a common and widespread duck. It breeds in northern areas of Europe and across the Palearctic and across most of North America, wintering in southern Europe, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, Central, the Caribbean, and northern South America.
This species is unmistakable in the northern hemisphere due to its large spatulate bill. The breeding drake has an iridescent dark green head, white breast and chestnut belly and flanks. In flight, pale blue forewing feathers are revealed, separated from the green speculum by a white border. In early fall the male will have a white crescent on each side of the face. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake resembles the female.
The female is a drab mottled brown like other dabblers, with plumage much like a female mallard, but easily distinguished by the long broad bill, which is gray tinged with orange on cutting edge and lower mandible. The female's forewing is gray. (wikipedia)
The species is resident and a breeding species in Ireland. Wintering birds originate from breeding populations which range across France, northern Europe, the Baltic and western Russia. Ireland and northern Britain also support the small Icelandic breeding population during the winter. (Birdwatch Ireland)
This male Shoveler was present on the pond in Turvey Nature Reserve in North County Dublin.
The male chiloé wigeon looked beautiful as he was preening. I like the circles of water spreading out away from him.
Male Chiloé Wigeon (Mareca sibilatrix)
My photos can also be found at kapturedbykala.com
The Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) is a flamboyant and colorful species of North American waterfowl. Wood Ducks feed by dabbling and they are strong fliers and can reach speeds of 30 mph. They are one of only a few ducks that have claws on their feet, allowing them to perch and nest in trees. They tend to build their nests within one mile of a lake shore, river bank, or other body of water. Egg-dumping, or intraspecific brood parasitism is common in Wood Ducks—females visit other Wood Duck cavities, lay eggs in them, and leave them to be raised by the other female. This may have been made more common by the abundance and conspicuousness of artificial nest boxes; in some areas it happens in more than half of all nests. Individual females typically lay 10-11 eggs per clutch, but some very full nests have been found containing 29 eggs, the result of egg-dumping. Wood Duck populations increased between 1966 and 2015 according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. This is good news considering their dramatic declines in the late 19th century. This Wood Duck couple was photographed at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.
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Mallards are highly adaptable, found in a variety of habitats including wetlands, rivers, lakes, ponds, and even urban parks and golf courses. They prefer shallow waters where they can dabble for food.
Garganey - Spatula querquedula
he garganey (Spatula querquedula) is a small dabbling duck. It breeds in much of Europe and western Asia, but is strictly migratory, with the entire population moving to southern Africa, India (in particular Santragachi), Bangladesh (in the natural reservoirs of Sylhet district) and Australasia in winter, where large flocks can occur.
The adult male is unmistakable, with its brown head and breast with a broad white crescent over the eye. The rest of the plumage is grey, with loose grey scapular feathers It has a grey bill and legs. In flight it shows a pale blue speculum with a white border. When swimming it will show prominent white edges on its tertials. His crown (anatomy) is dark and face is reddish brown.
Some care is needed in separating the brown female from the similar common teal, but the stronger face markings and more frequent head-shaking when dabbling are good indicators.
Garganey are rare breeding birds in the British Isles, with most breeding in quiet marshes in Norfolk and Suffolk. In Ireland a few pairs breed in Wexford, with occasional breeding elsewhere.
Females of most dabbling ducks make the classic "quack" sound, but despite widespread misconceptions, most species of duck do not "quack". In general, ducks make a wide range of calls, ranging from whistles, cooing, yodels and grunts. For example, the scaup – which are diving ducks – make a noise like "scaup" (hence their name). Calls may be loud displaying calls or quieter contact calls.
A common urban legend claims that duck quacks do not echo; however, this has been shown to be false. This myth was first debunked by the Acoustics Research Centre at the University of Salford in 2003 as part of the British Association's Festival of Science. It was also debunked in one of the earlier episodes of the popular Discovery Channel television show MythBusters
Dabbling in more intimate landscapes again. I liked the contrast between the dark rock & the bright colours of the barnacles and plants on the rocks and then the waves breaking over them added the flow to the image for me.
A female gadwall (Anas strepera) that I met on the ice last winter. It had lost lots of feathers on its chest, that was stuck on the ice.
The gadwall is one of the rare dabbling duck species in Norway.
(Snadderand hunn in Norwegian)
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Heavy rains this spring have resulted in my local marsh spilling over to the nearby fields. A perfect environment for dabbling ducks like this blue-winged teal.
The Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) is a flamboyant and colorful species of North American waterfowl. Wood Ducks feed by dabbling and they are strong fliers and can reach speeds of 30 mph. They are one of only a few ducks that have claws on their feet, allowing them to perch and nest in trees. They tend to build their nests within one mile of a lake shore, river bank, or other body of water. Egg-dumping or intraspecific brood parasitism is common in Wood Ducks—females visit other Wood Duck cavities, lay eggs in them, and leave them to be raised by the other female. This may have been made more common by the abundance and conspicuousness of artificial nest boxes; in some areas, it happens in more than half of all nests. Individual females typically lay 10-11 eggs per clutch, but some very full nests have been found containing 29 eggs, the result of egg-dumping. Wood Duck populations increased between 1966 and 2015 according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. This is good news considering their dramatic declines in the late 19th century. This beautiful Wood Duck drake was photographed at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.
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After dabbling into whatifs designs (here and there) I decided to go back to a more canon version of the iconic snubfighter. Also I needed the challenge.
Seeing how many great T-65 there has been in the past months I do not see how I could add anything to a Lego 'classic' X-wing as of today. And the split wing idea proved too enticing anyway :)
Interestingly enough, the starting point of those three models is exactly the same combination of 5 parts : two curved slopes and wedge bricks to make up the rear section of the fuselage.
I still consider it a WIP of kinds or at least an early prototype. There still room for a lot of tweaking and tinkering. And at the same time this is showable enough. Plus I just reckon this is the right time of the year ;)
I don't think the spliting wings have ever been done this exact way : it has pros and cons obviously but I'm really curious about how you guys feel about it.
Some credits are due to atlas_er for I originally replicated his solution for engine cowlings before eventually going on a slightly different path. But more importantly for making me want to build my own T-70 :]
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The green-winged teal (Anas carolinensis) or American teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Eurasian teal (A. crecca) for some time, but the two have since been split into separate species. This is once again under debate and the two species may be joined togetehr again.
This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters far south of its breeding range. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. In flight, the fast, twisting flocks resemble waders. (wikipedia)
Very similar to Common Teal and care is needed to separate the two species. Adult male Green-winged Teal can be identified by the white vertical stripe on the flank, a feature never shown by Common Teal. Adult male Green-winged Teal also lack the obvious horizontal white stripe, while the yellow markings on the head are much reduced. Adult females and juveniles are indistinguishable from Common Teal. (BirdWatch Ireland)
There are several records a year in Ireland. This male was found in Broadmeadows in the Swords Estuary, Co. Dublin.
Buckley’s Hole Conservation Park at Bribie Island
Bongaree, Queensland, Australia,
The Australian wood duck, maned duck or maned goose (Chenonetta jubata) is a dabbling duck found throughout much of Australia. It is the only living species in the genus Chenonetta. Traditionally placed in the subfamily Anatinae (dabbling ducks), it might belong to the subfamily Tadorninae (shelducks); the ringed teal may be its closest living relative.
An elegant dabbling duck, easily recognized, with its distinctive elongated appearance and a pointed rear end, Most are winter visitors from northern Europe, and in my eyes they are very welcome.......
Thanks for your visit, all comments are very welcome, and find encouraging, hope your weekend is going well, God bless you all..........Tomx.
I spotted several Northern Shoveler's dabbling away just inside the driving entrance to Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge near Cambridge, Maryland. So, I set up my gear and waited for some nice shots. The ducks were insistent on keeping their heads down as they dabbled for food and only when they would swim a little between areas would they have their bill up in a nice profile, like this photo. Similar in the iridescent green plumage of Mallard, this drake's distinctive elongated and wide bill identifies him as a shoveler.
Taken 9 March 2017 at Blackwater National Wildlife Refuge.
A great example of this birds color compared to a hen mallard.
Nearly identical to Mallard in size and shape. Chocolate body is significantly darker than female Mallard. They dabble at the water's surface and tip-up at edges of wetlands to feed on aquatic plants and invertebrates. Can gather in large flocks in saltmarshes and other tidal areas.
At the end of January 2025 I spent the morning at WWT Slimbridge, Gloucestershire.
The task for the morning was to get some images of Northern Shovelers in flight.
The Northern Shoveler is my favourite Duck that we see in the UK.
The Northern Shoveler, or Shoveler, is a Dabbling Duck and is common in northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America.
The Shovelers bill has developed a comb like structure on its edges which acts like a sieve to filter out food from the water's.
SPONSORS:
~DABBLE
--->REED DRAPES
--->REED RUG
--->REED SIDE TABLE
--->REED SOFA
All at the XXX Event this month!
A visit to Farmoor Reservoir, Oxfordshire to look for the Greater Scaup, Knot and Great Northern Diver that were showing .
Weather was sunnier than my last visit. The water levels were very low.
A female Common Mallard on F2 reservoir.
The Mallard is the most familiar of all the dabbling ducks.
The Mallard is a large and heavy-looking duck. It has a long body, and a long and broad bill. The female is mainly brown with an orange bill. Mallards breed in all parts of the UK in summer and winter, wherever there are suitable wetland habitats
'Mouths to feed'. A grainy image, but caught in an oak tree in the depths of a dark ancient wood, a beautiful Spotted flycatcher with a fly in its beak about to feed it to its fledglings. It was a dull day with very low light, I had to bang my ISO up out of limits, but I got the image that I wanted. A summer visitor in North Yorkshire.
Watch the deadly accurate flying of the spotted flycatcher in woodlands, gardens and parks. It sits quietly on a perch waiting for an unsuspecting insect to fly by, deftly dashing out to seize it
Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.
Spotted flycatcher - Old world Flycatcher family
Scientific name: Muscicapa striata
Species information
Category
Thrushes, chats, flycatchers, starling, dipper and wren
Statistics
Length: 14cm
Wingspan: 24cm
Weight: 17g
Average lifespan: 2 years
Conservation status
Classified in the UK as Red under the Birds of Conservation Concern 4: the Red List for Birds (2015). Priority Species under the UK Post-2010 Biodiversity Framework.
When to see: April to September
About
The spotted flycatcher is a medium-sized songbird of open woodland, parks and gardens. It has a relatively long tail, which it flicks while it sits patiently on a perch waiting for a chance to fly out and catch its insect-prey mid-air. During the breeding season, spotted flycatchers can be seen across the UK, but they leave here in August for their wintering grounds in tropical Africa. Passage migrants can be seen in September.
How to identify
A streaky, greyish-brown bird, the spotted flycatcher is pale underneath, with a streaky crown and breast.
Distribution
A widespread summer visitor.
Habitats
FarmlandWoodlandTowns and gardens. WT Notes.
SPONSORS:
~DABBLE
--->REED DRAPES
--->REED RUG
--->REED SIDE TABLE
--->REED SOFA
All at the XXX Event this month!
Northern pintails are long, slender ducks with long, narrow wings, earning them the nickname "greyhound of the air." Pintails are named for their elongated central tail feathers, which constitute one-fourth of the drake's body length. Male northern pintails have a chocolate-brown head with a white stripe on each side of the neck extending up from the white breast and belly. The back is blackish-gray and the rump has a white patch on each side.
Northern pintails are among the first ducks to migrate south in the fall and north in the spring. Over half of the pintail population in North America migrates through California.
Shorebirds of Ireland, Freshwater Birds of Ireland and The Birds of Ireland: A Field Guide 2nd Edition with Jim Wilson.
www.markcarmodyphotography.com
The green-winged teal (Anas carolinensis) or American teal is a common and widespread duck that breeds in the northern areas of North America except on the Aleutian Islands. It was considered conspecific with the Eurasian teal (A. crecca) for some time, but the two have since been split into separate species. This is once again under debate and the two species may be joined togetehr again.
This dabbling duck is strongly migratory and winters far south of its breeding range. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. In flight, the fast, twisting flocks resemble waders. (wikipedia)
Very similar to Common Teal and care is needed to separate the two species. Adult male Green-winged Teal can be identified by the white vertical stripe on the flank, a feature never shown by Common Teal. Adult male Green-winged Teal also lack the obvious horizontal white stripe, while the yellow markings on the head are much reduced. Adult females and juveniles are indistinguishable from Common Teal. (BirdWatch Ireland)
There are several records a year in Ireland. This male, flanked either side by his distant Eurasian Teal cousins, was found in Broadmeadows in the Swords Estuary, Co. Dublin.
Mallards are in eclipse and have lost their showy colours.
"Mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) replace all their feathers once a year but males and females do it at different times. Females molt while nesting (February–May); males molt after the breeding season (June–August).
The molt begins with a complete loss of remiges (wing flight feathers) that takes only a few days, rendering the bird flightless for 3-4 weeks. Fortunately males simultaneously replace their brightly colored body feathers with dull ones so they can hide in dense marshes. Eclipse plumage keeps them out of danger."
from www.birdsoutsidemywindow.org/2021/07/07/mallards-in-eclipse/
This little dabbling duck is the smallest and fastest flying North American ducks. If you look closely, a tiny bit of his green wing feathers is visible on his right side :)
Did you also know that ducks have up to 12,000 separate skin muscles that they use to control their feathers? They raise or compress their plumage in different ways in order to express emotions, regulate body heat, or when they dive under the water.
Oftentimes we take their presence for granted, but now after all the birds left for warmer weather, I never felt more grateful.
A trip to Slimbridge, Gloucestershire in early November 2023. The water levels on the lagoons on the outer fields were starting to rise and the winter birds starting to arrive.
A Northern Pintail on the Tack Piece Lagoon.
Slightly bigger than a Mallard, these long-necked and small-headed ducks fly with curved back pointed wings and a tapering tail, making this the best way to distinguish them from other ducks in the UK.
The Northern Pintail is a dabbling duck that breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America.
It is highly gregarious when not breeding forming large mixed flocks with other spicies of ducks.
The Northern Pintails hugh range and large population means that is it not threathened globally.