Another trip to WWT Slimbridge on the 1st February.

The Northern Pintail is a dabbling duck that breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America.

The Male Northern Pintail has a Chocolate Brown coloured head and a thin White stripe running down from the back of its head to its neck. It has a White breast and belly with Greyish flanks. It has Black stripes on its back, a Blue-Grey bill, Grey legs and feet. It also has a long pointed Black tail.

The American wigeon, also known as the baldpate, is a species of dabbling duck found in North America. Formerly assigned to Anas, this species is classified with the other wigeons in the dabbling duck genus Mareca. It is the New World counterpart of the Eurasian wigeon.Wikipedia

Dabbling in my garden..:))

Moremi Game Reserve

Okavango Delta

Botswana

Southern Africa

African Pygmy Goose in Moremi Game Reserve in the Okavango Delta in Botswana. The bird was photographed while it was swimming in a pool of water we crossed by bridge on the way back to camp. The male was swimming with its mate.

The African Pygmy Goose (Nettapus auritus) is a perching duck from sub-Saharan Africa. It is the smallest of Africa's wildfowl, and one of the smallest in the world.

Though pygmy geese have beaks like those of geese, they are more related to the dabbling ducks and other species called 'ducks'. It is one of the species to which the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds (AEWA) applies.

The African Pygmy Goose is one of the smallest of the perching ducks, and it has the average weight of about 285 grams (10.1 oz) for males and 260 grams (9.2 oz) for females. The females have a grayish color with dark eye patches while the males have a white face with vibrant green ear patches and metallic green on their back.

The African Pygmy Goose is known to be nomadic. It can be found across a wide area of sub-Saharan Africa. It prefers inland wetlands with vegetation such as water lilies. It sometimes occupies open swamps, farm dens, river pools, and estuaries. - from Wikipedia

Dabbling in my garden...:))

two little grebe shots from yesterday

Two drakes and a female cinnamon teal at the Sacramento National Wildlife Refuge. The second female swam out of the frame. These birds will migrate north to breed in late March or early April. Although they are quite common winter birds in this area, I've never identified them before.

The Cinnamon Teal is the only duck with separate breeding populations in North and South America.

The female Cinnamon Teal often places her nest below matted, dead stems of vegetation so it is completely concealed on all sides and from above. She approaches the nest through tunnels in the vegetation.

Thanks, as always, for stopping by and for all of your kind comments -- I appreciate them all.

© Melissa Post 2015

All rights reserved. Please respect my copyright and do not copy, modify or download this image to blogs or other websites without obtaining my explicit written permission.

Dabbling in my garden...with my old camera! :))

Leading lines - Our Daily Challenge

All rights reserved. Please do not use or reproduce this image on websites, blogs or any other media without my permission.

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

© All Rights Reserved

Green-Winged Teal taken in Burnaby, BC Canada

Dabbling in my garden... :))

John Heinz NWR

The wind direction was more helpful today!

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

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 stunning Wood Duck drake at White Rock Lake in Dallas, Texas.

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Or alternatively "Dabbling, Up-tails All" from The Wind In The Willows.

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Alton Baker Park

Eugene, Oregon

Olympus E-M1.3

Olympus 12-100mm

Another trip to WWT Slimbridge on the 1st February.

A male Northern Pintail prepares to land 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.

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

My Hydrangea tree!

Dabbling in watercolors this holiday season. Always loved cardinals. I have yet to see one in real life, but it has been fun working on this painting. Still a few layers to go but so far, it's coming out pretty good… I'm happy with it! 😊

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Avila Beach, CA, USA

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Probably the most graceful of ducks. Long slender streamlined body and pintail makes it one the really elegant ducks.

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Dabbling in my garden...:))

dabbling with stuff, book page, watercolour, typewriter nonsense

Dabbling in my garden...:))

The mallard or wild duck is a dabbling duck..Mallard (male)

The classic duck. Males have a yellow bill and a green head, separated from the brown breast by a thin white collar. The body is mostly grey, with a black rear. The black middle tail feathers curl upwards. The speculum is dark blue with a white border.

Dabbling in my garden...:))

Harriman Lake, Jefferson County, Colorado

Food filtration, sensing organs shown on upper mandible of both birds

Dabbling in my garden...:)

Dabbling duck, Northern Shoveler (drake)

Humber Bay

Toronto, ON

Teals are small dabbling ducks. Males have chestnut coloured heads with broad green eye-patches, a spotted chest, grey flanks and a black edged yellow tail. Females are mottled brown. Both show bright green wing patches (speculum) in flight. They are thinly distributed as a breeding species with a preference for northern moors and mires. In winter birds congregate in low-lying wetlands in the south and west of the UK. Of these, many are continental birds from around the Baltic and Siberia. At this time, the UK is home to a significant percentage of the NW European wintering population making it an Amber List species.

Length 34-38cm

Wingspan 58-64cm

Weight 250-400g

Twilight dabbling training for cygnets

Same place as the previous shot but the following day - completely different colours going on here & a lot mistier (less breezy).

- Just as Carlos says - there's never one sunset the same!

If you are forced like me to feed your addiction to coastal shots & getting your tripod wet by visiting rivers or lakes - you may understand my two biggest hates?

The first is the Cheery dog walker that likes throwing logs or sticks into lakes in front of me - doesn't happen too much because I've mastered a certain disapproving look especially for these moments.

If that fails I can swear like a trooper (being as common as muck) -although I haven't had to do this yet :)

I don't have a problem with dogs at all - just the opposite provided their owners show some common courtesy & do their log throwing thing further down out of my viewpoint - after all dogs just want to have fun not look at the Sunset!!!

The other is Swans - which have a gift for ruining shots sometimes - it's almost as though it's sport for them - "let's see if we can destroy this photographer's shot for as long as we possibly can"

Having just been freed up by the splashing dogs who'd just gone home with their owners to watch that afternoon game show with Alexander Armstrong - you can imagine my feelings of dread with wonderful twilight colouring in the sky & flawless reflections on the lake, at seeing a swan with it's family poking its neck around the clump of reeds!

Luckily they were very well behaved on this occasion - almost serene & the wildfowl photobombing became a welcome addition to the shot :)

Many thanks to everyone who took the trouble to view comment or fave :)

The Weight