View allAll Photos Tagged Dabble
So I've been dabbling with that Black Dragon viewer, this is a high graphic no edit shot. I might be a convert.
Skin: Stix ~ Xuxa (B) Cream [Coming to Skin Fair 2018]
Eyeshadow: #adored - mini sticky shadow - angelic
Head: LAQ Bento - Motion Capture - Rebel
Body: -Belleza- Freya V2.01
Brows: LAQ ~ Brows 03
Hair: TRUTH / Carla
Eyes: IKON Ascension Eyes - Ice
Clothing: Sweet Thing. Anthea Push-Up Bra
Jewelry:
Pretty Mess - All-Seeing Earring Silver
PUNCH / Mira / Clip-On Septum {rose} RARE
!Rebel Hope - Valentine's Heart Choker
Pose: ~SMD ~ Stoner Girl
Windlight: Satomi's 2017 Clear Skin WL by www.foxcitysl.com/2017/08/satomis-windlights.html
A Saucerful of Secrets - www.youtube.com/watch?v=S7RL1F7hqRc
For the third issue running, I have had the fun of being included in Dabble.
The last two times was as paparazzi for the Moggit Girls as they were featured in their articles on home decor ( and allowed me to develop a serious crush on shooting pretty homes ).
This time was a little different. This image was selected as the jumping off point for *Infusion*, a page of colourful inspiration!
Art editor Victoria Drainville saw design potential in him:).
This Canadian online publication
( a Kimberly Seldon Group project ) features huge amounts of design, food and travel talents, showcased by terrific creative types. It is a great read. Seriously...there are food trucks in this issue. And a trip to Budapest. And ways to go about collecting art. And an awesome green tble. Lots of goodies. Enjoy:)
(the birdie is on page 61)
SPONSORS:
~DABBLE
--->NOA DRAPES
--->NOA CHAIR
--->NOA RUG
--->NOA PLANTER
--->NOA SIDE TABLE
--->NOA COFFEE TABLE
All at the Jail Event this month!
‘Proud Mother’. Mute Swan Pen teaching Cygnets how to dabble, West Yorkshire.
Many thanks for visiting my Flickr pages ...Your visits, interest, comments and kindness to 'fave' my photos is very much appreciated, Steve.
Mute Swan Notes :-
Habitat: Lakes and Ponds
The adaptable Mute Swan can be found in aquatic habitats ranging from urban lakes and farm ponds to coastal estuaries. In the Pacific Northwest and from New England south to Virginia, Mute Swan pairs choose fresh, brackish, and saltwater ponds as breeding sites. Farther inland, they breed on slow-moving rivers, bogs, embankments, and creeks and streams that empty into large lakes and other bodies of water. Severe weather or food shortages may drive birds from their territories to winter with nonbreeders in ice-free stretches of lakes, rivers, estuaries, and ocean sounds.
Food: Plants
Mute Swans mainly eat aquatic vegetation, along with some animal prey including frogs, tadpoles, fish, snails, molluscs and insects. In a Michigan study swans ate more animals during their annual moult and in spring when vegetation was scarce. Plant foods include eelgrass, several species of pondweeds, along with filamentous algae, wigeon grass, sea lettuce, bladderwort, flowering grasses, and agricultural grains. They also eat handouts from people, including cracked corn, bread, lettuce, and produce trimmings. Mute Swans are voracious foragers, eating up to 8 pounds of aquatic plants a day that they tear off with their thick, rough-edged bills anchored by strong bill muscles. They skim plants from the surface and submerge all but their tail and feet to reach vegetation growing in deeper water. They also rake the bottom with their feet to expose tubers and dig up plants to bring to the surface.
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Nesting; Nest Ground
Male Mute Swans select the nest site and may start several nests before the female accepts the location. Nest sites are safe from flooding yet offer easy access to water, with ample nesting materials and food nearby - often on a small peninsula, along a heavily vegetated shoreline, or on a small to medium-sized island.
NEST DESCRIPTION
The male Mute Swan starts the nest by building a platform of crisscrossed vegetation, often on the site of a nest from a previous year. He then places vegetation next to the platform for the female, who piles the material onto the nest base, using her body and feet to mould a nest cup. Nesting materials include twigs, reeds, cattails, cordgrasses, sedges, rushes, bulrushes, other grasses, and occasionally pebbles. The cup can contain rotting vegetation and some down. The finished nest reaches 5 feet across at the base and 1.5 - 2.1 feet high, with a nest cup 15 inches across and 3 - 10 inches deep. Construction takes about 10 days, and the pair may add to the nest during egg laying and brooding.
NESTING FACTS
Clutch Size:2-5 eggs
Egg Length:3.5-4.6 in (9-11.6 cm)
Egg Width:2.3-2.9 in (5.9-7.4 cm)
Incubation Period:34-41 days
Egg Description :Blue-green when laid, changing to white and chalky. Sometimes stained olive-brown from material on parents’ feet.
Condition at Hatching: Eyes open, clumsy, covered in wet white or grey down. Able to move around nest, feed and enter water as soon as down dries. Is able to fly at 65 days after hatching.
Behaviour
Dabbler Short legs placed well back on the body give Mute Swans an awkward walking gait, but the birds can run quickly if pursued and can take off from land and water, flying with head and neck extended. On the water they sometimes hold their wings slightly raised and “sail” with the wind. Mute Swans are predominantly monogamous and form long-lasting breeding pairs. They are extremely aggressive in defending their breeding territory. Before or during landing at a breeding site they’ll slap the water with their feet to announce their arrival and alert potential intruders. If another swan approaches members of the pair raise their wings and tuck their neck in a “busking” display to warn them off. Territorial defences sometimes escalate to fights between males that can end with the dominant bird pushing its rival underwater. Mute swans also chase off ducks, geese, gulls, dogs, and humans. The aggressive nature and enormous appetites of these non native birds pose a problem for wildlife managers: Mute Swans displace native species from breeding and foraging sites, and can damage feeding habitat by overgrazing aquatic vegetation
Conservation
Conservation Low Concern Mute Swan populations increased between 1966 and 2014, according to the North American Breeding Bird Survey. The species is not on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. With few natural predators, numbers of these aggressive non-natives can build quickly, displace native species, and damage aquatic habitat by overgrazing vegetation, creating a dilemma for wildlife and habitat managers. In the Maryland region of Chesapeake Bay, Mute Swans drove the last colony of Black Skimmers off their breeding grounds and trampled Least Tern nests and nestlings on the bay’s sandbars. Mute Swans are also displacing Black Tern colonies in New York. A number of states have adapted measures—including addling eggs and culling birds—to control Mute Swan numbers, although these measures tend to generate public controversy. In Maryland, a population of over 4,000 had been reduced to fewer than 100 birds by 2012. Control efforts are also in place in the Central and Pacific Flyways, where wildlife managers are removing Mute Swans in efforts to re-establish Trumpeter Swan populations. Due in part to poor forward vision and maneuverability, Mute Swans are injured and killed by impacts with powerlines and other structures. They are also affected by lead poisoning from spent shot and fishing weights. All About Birds Notes.
The American Wigeon, also American Widgeon or Baldpate, (Anas americana) is a species of dabbling duck found in North America. This species is classified with the other wigeons in the dabbling duck genus Anas, which may be split, in which case wigeons could go into their old genus Mareca again. It is the New World counterpart of the Eurasian Wigeon.
The American Wigeon is a medium-sized bird; it is larger than a teal, but smaller than a pintail. In silhouette, the wigeon can be distinguished from other dabblers by its round head, short neck, and small bill. It is 42–59 cm (17–23 in) long, with a 76–91 cm (30–36 in) wingspan and a weight of 512–1,330 g (1.13–2.9 lb). This wigeon has two adult molts per year and a juvenile molt in the first year, as well.
The breeding male (drake) is a striking bird with a mask of green feathers around its eyes and a cream colored cap running from the crown of its head to its bill. This white patch gives the wigeon its other common name, baldpate (pate is another word for head). Their belly is also white. In flight, drakes can be identified by the large white shoulder patch on each wing. These white patches flash as the birds bank and turn. In non-breeding (eclipse) plumage, the drake looks more like the female.
The hens are much less conspicuous, having primarily gray and brown plumage. Both sexes have a pale blue bill with a black tip, a white belly, and gray legs and feet. The wing patch behind the speculum is gray. They can be distinguished from most ducks, apart from Eurasian Wigeon, by shape. However, that species has a darker head and all grey underwing. The head and neck coloring of the female is different as opposed to the Eurasian Wigeon. It nests on the ground, near water and under cover. It lays 6–12 creamy white eggs. Flocks will often contain American Coots.
The American Wigeon is a noisy species, and in the field can often be identified by their distinctive calls. Drakes produce a three note whistle, while hens emit hoarse grunts and quacks. The male whistle makes a whoee-whoe-whoe, whereas the female has a low growl qua-ack.
American wigeon. California.
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 Juvenile Northern Pintail flying over the outer fields at Slimbridge.
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.
Early September 2024 and my first trip to WWT Slimbridge for the Autumn/Winter season.
Was not expecting too much, but ended the day having had a good day.
The Northern Shoveler is my favourite duck to photograph of all the ducks seen wild 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 surface.
The Northern Shoveler population has increased over the few years due to favourable habitat and breeding conditions.
“Mareca Americana” observed on a lake in the Mojave desert of California.
I believe this to be a juvenile male rather than the similar female Wigeon because there are numerous green feathers on its head which are only visible on my High resolution image.
Image - Copyright 2020 Alan Vernon
Although I've dabbled with background replacements (primarily for clouds), this represents my first real attempt at photo manipulation. This lovely model was posing on the front steps of a home in Punta Gorda during the Christmas holiday and I had photographed the mushrooms on a stump in your front yard here in western Illinois last October.
_MG_8207 fairy final
Visit stevefrazierphotography.com
Contact me at stevefrazierphotography@gmail.com
© Stephen L. Frazier - All of my images are protected by copyright and may not be used on any site, blog, or forum without my permission.
April 2015
A Mallard takes to water on a bright spring morning in the Rouge River Watershed, Michigan.
Copyright © 2015 Richard Thompson.
Oenothera stricta subsp. stricta (Evening primrose)
Habitat with nene dabbling water off picnic table at sunrise at Kapalaoa cabin Haleakala National Park, Maui, Hawaii.
August 09, 2011
Someone has been throwing good JuJu at me to continue to capture "lifers" (First time captures.) This is my first ever Gadwall and I tell ya folks it just gets better and better each and every morning I awake and go out to my lake.
They are a "Dabbling Duck", as opposed to a "Diving Duck" The stay on the surface and Dabbling/sucking in the surface water sifting fine particles and insects on top of the lake.
I had oodles of fun with Signature Geralt and my shopping haul from the Signature Event. Check out my blog for credits:
My grandson and I met a photographer, on one of the observation bridges, who pointed out this duck to us. "This visitor was like a celebrity" she said.
Thanks for visiting, much appreciated.
Still dabbling in the Star Wars Constraction Figure Genre here's custom First Order Stormtrooper FN 2199 with Riot Baton and Shield ready to stomp traitors of the First Order- watch the vid for more info... www.youtube.com/watch?v=_VET7aHy6yM
A colourful Dabbling duck from South America found from Andes of Peru, western Bolivia, northern Chile to the extreme northwestern areas of Argentina
Mallard ducks on the river Wallington in Fareham Hampshire. They are called Dabbling Ducks as they mostly feed off the top of the water and don't dive for food
Dabbling duck silhouetted by golden water after a dip at sunset on the eve of summer solstice in 2024. Some mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) were foraging near to shore in the main pond of Dawlish Warren National Nature Reserve on a summer evening. It was after 9pm and I was going to take "just one last look" before heading home after walking around the main pond, when several ducks saw me and immediately started swimming to shore in hope of some food. I never feed them and began walking away - so the ducks would return to foraging naturally - but glanced back to see if they were following me. On seeing the light and shade I initially hesitated, thinking "there's not enough time; I'm too hungry; this'll never work", but decided to try some photos anyway. Devon, UK, 20-Jun-2024.
The Baikal Teal is a dabbling duck which breeds within the forest zone of eastern Siberia.
Best viewed in large: farm4.static.flickr.com/3003/3415662874_1edab9f85c_b.jpg
(Reached Explore #296)
The Northern Pintail isn't a very colorful duck, but they are dripping in elegance. Being dabblers, they are upside down as often as right side up.
Waterfowl like mallards are called Dabbling Ducks because of what the two of them in this photograph are doing. It's called "dabbling." Mallards' food is comprised largely of plant matter found at the bottom of ponds or lakes. They dive for it. The mallard doing the dabbling is female, and her colorful friend is male.
Thanks for your friendly visit and any comment you'd be kind enough to make.
Mallard Duck (Disambiguation) (ˈmælɑːrd, ˈmælərd) or Wild Duck (Anas platyrhynchos)
The mallard (/ˈmælɑːrd, ˈmælərd/) or wild duck (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. The male birds (drakes) have a glossy green head and are grey on their wings and belly, while the females (hens or ducks) have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81–98 cm (32–39 in) and the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in) long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.7–1.6 kg (1.5–3.5 lb). Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domestic ducks.
The female lays eight to 13 creamy white to greenish-buff spotless eggs, on alternate days. Incubation takes 27 to 28 days and fledging takes 50 to 60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.
The mallard is considered to be a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). Unlike many waterfowl, mallards are considered an invasive species in some regions. It is a very adaptable species, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development. The non-migratory mallard interbreeds with indigenous wild ducks of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring. Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl. The wild mallard is the ancestor of most domestic ducks, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool gets genetically polluted by the domestic and feral mallard populations.
Taxonomy and evolutionary history
The mallard was one of the many bird species originally described in the 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae by Carl Linnaeus. He gave it two binomial names: Anas platyrhynchos and Anas boschas. The latter was generally preferred until 1906 when Einar Lönnberg established that A. platyrhynchos had priority, as it appeared on an earlier page in the text. The scientific name comes from Latin Anas, "duck" and Ancient Greek πλατυρυγχος, platyrhynchus, "broad-billed" (from πλατύς, platys, "broad" and ρυγχός, rhunkhos, "bill"). The genome of Anas platyrhynchos was sequenced in 2013.
The name mallard originally referred to any wild drake, and it is sometimes still used this way. It was derived from the Old French malart or mallart for "wild drake" although its true derivation is unclear. It may be related to, or at least influenced by, an Old High German masculine proper name Madelhart, clues lying in the alternative English forms "maudelard" and "mawdelard". Masle (male) has also been proposed as an influence.
Mallards frequently interbreed with their closest relatives in the genus Anas, such as the American black duck, and also with species more distantly related, such as the northern pintail, leading to various hybrids that may be fully fertile. This is quite unusual among such different species, and is apparently because the mallard evolved very rapidly and recently, during the Late Pleistocene. The distinct lineages of this radiation are usually kept separate due to non-overlapping ranges and behavioural cues, but have not yet reached the point where they are fully genetically incompatible. Mallards and their domestic conspecifics are also fully interfertile.
Genetic analysis has shown that certain mallards appear to be closer to their Indo-Pacific relatives, while others are related to their American relatives. Mitochondrial DNA data for the D-loop sequence suggest that mallards may have evolved in the general area of Siberia. Mallard bones rather abruptly appear in food remains of ancient humans and other deposits of fossil bones in Europe, without a good candidate for a local predecessor species. The large Ice Age palaeosubspecies that made up at least the European and West Asian populations during the Pleistocene has been named Anas platyrhynchos palaeoboschas.
Mallards are differentiated in their mitochondrial DNA between North American and Eurasian populations, but the nuclear genome displays a notable lack of genetic structure. Haplotypes typical of American mallard relatives and eastern spot-billed ducks can be found in mallards around the Bering Sea. The Aleutian Islands hold a population of mallards that appear to be evolving towards becoming a subspecies, as gene flow with other populations is very limited.
Also, the paucity of morphological differences between the Old World mallards and the New World mallard demonstrates the extent to which the genome is shared among them such that birds like the Chinese spot-billed duck are highly similar to the Old World mallard, and birds such as the Hawaiian duck are highly similar to the New World mallard.
The size of the mallard varies clinally; for example, birds from Greenland, though larger, have smaller bills, paler plumage, and stockier bodies than birds further south and are sometimes classified as a separate subspecies, the Greenland mallard (A. p. conboschas).
Description
The mallard is a medium-sized waterfowl species that is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks. It is 50–65 cm (20–26 in) long – of which the body makes up around two-thirds – has a wingspan of 81–98 cm (32–39 in) and weighs 0.7–1.6 kg (1.5–3.5 lb). Among standard measurements, the wing chord is 25.7 to 30.6 cm (10.1 to 12.0 in), the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm (1.7 to 2.4 in), and the tarsus is 4.1 to 4.8 cm (1.6 to 1.9 in).
The breeding male mallard is unmistakable, with a glossy bottle-green head and a white collar that demarcates the head from the purple-tinged brown breast, grey-brown wings, and a pale grey belly. The rear of the male is black, with white-bordered dark tail feathers. The bill of the male is a yellowish-orange tipped with black, with that of the female generally darker and ranging from black to mottled orange and brown. The female mallard is predominantly mottled, with each individual feather showing sharp contrast from buff to very dark brown, a coloration shared by most female dabbling ducks, and has buff cheeks, eyebrow, throat, and neck, with a darker crown and eye-stripe.
Both male and female mallards have distinct iridescent purple-blue speculum feathers edged with white, which are prominent in flight or at rest but temporarily shed during the annual summer moult. Upon hatching, the plumage of the duckling is yellow on the underside and face (with streaks by the eyes) and black on the back (with some yellow spots) all the way to the top and back of the head. Its legs and bill are also black. As it nears a month in age, the duckling's plumage starts becoming drab, looking more like the female, though more streaked, and its legs lose their dark grey colouring. Two months after hatching, the fledgling period has ended, and the duckling is now a juvenile. Between three and four months of age, the juvenile can finally begin flying, as its wings are fully developed for flight (which can be confirmed by the sight of purple speculum feathers). Its bill soon loses its dark grey colouring, and its sex can finally be distinguished visually by three factors:
1) the bill is yellow in males, but black and orange in females;
2) the breast feathers are reddish-brown in males, but brown in females; and
3) in males, the centre tail feather (drake feather) is curled, but in females, the centre tail feather is straight.
During the final period of maturity leading up to adulthood (6–10 months of age), the plumage of female juveniles remains the same while the plumage of male juveniles gradually changes to its characteristic colours. This change in plumage also applies to adult mallard males when they transition in and out of their non-breeding eclipse plumage at the beginning and the end of the summer moulting period. The adulthood age for mallards is fourteen months, and the average life expectancy is three years, but they can live to twenty.
Several species of duck have brown-plumaged females that can be confused with the female mallard. The female gadwall (Mareca strepera) has an orange-lined bill, white belly, black and white speculum that is seen as a white square on the wings in flight, and is a smaller bird. More similar to the female mallard in North America are the American black duck (A. rubripes), which is notably darker-hued in both sexes than the mallard, and the mottled duck (A. fulvigula), which is somewhat darker than the female mallard, and with slightly different bare-part colouration and no white edge on the speculum.
In captivity, domestic ducks come in wild-type plumages, white, and other colours. Most of these colour variants are also known in domestic mallards not bred as livestock, but kept as pets, aviary birds, etc., where they are rare but increasing in availability.
A noisy species, the female has the deep quack stereotypically associated with ducks. Male mallards make a sound phonetically similar to that of the female, a typical quack, but it is deeper and quieter compared to that of the female. When incubating a nest, or when offspring are present, females vocalise differently, making a call that sounds like a truncated version of the usual quack. This maternal vocalisation is highly attractive to their young. The repetition and frequency modulation of these quacks form the auditory basis for species identification in offspring, a process known as acoustic conspecific identification. In addition, females hiss if the nest or offspring are threatened or interfered with. When taking off, the wings of a mallard produce a characteristic faint whistling noise.
The mallard is a rare example of both Allen's Rule and Bergmann's Rule in birds. Bergmann's Rule, which states that polar forms tend to be larger than related ones from warmer climates, has numerous examples in birds, as in case of the Greenland mallard which is larger than the mallards further south. Allen's Rule says that appendages like ears tend to be smaller in polar forms to minimise heat loss, and larger in tropical and desert equivalents to facilitate heat diffusion, and that the polar taxa are stockier overall. Examples of this rule in birds are rare as they lack external ears, but the bill of ducks is supplied with a few blood vessels to prevent heat loss, and, as in the Greenland mallard, the bill is smaller than that of birds farther south, illustrating the rule.
Due to the variability of the mallard's genetic code, which gives it its vast interbreeding capability, mutations in the genes that decide plumage colour are very common and have resulted in a wide variety of hybrids, such as Brewer's duck (mallard × gadwall, Mareca strepera).
Distribution and habitat
The mallard is widely distributed across the Northern and Southern Hemispheres; in North America its range extends from southern and central Alaska to Mexico, the Hawaiian Islands, across the Palearctic, from Iceland and southern Greenland and parts of Morocco (North Africa) in the west, Scandinavia and Britain to the north, and to Siberia Japan and South Korea. Also in the east, it ranges to south-eastern and south-western Australia and New Zealand in the Southern hemisphere. It is strongly migratory in the northern parts of its breeding range, and winters farther south. For example, in North America, it winters south to the southern United States and northern Mexico, but also regularly strays into Central America and the Caribbean between September and May. A drake later named "Trevor" attracted media attention in 2018 when it turned up on the island of Niue, an atypical location for mallards.
The mallard inhabits a wide range of habitats and climates, from the Arctic tundra to subtropical regions. It is found in both fresh- and salt-water wetlands, including parks, small ponds, rivers, lakes and estuaries, as well as shallow inlets and open sea within sight of the coastline. Water depths of less than 0.9 metres (3.0 ft) are preferred, with birds avoiding areas more than a few metres deep They are attracted to bodies of water with aquatic vegetation.
Behaviour
Feeding
The mallard is omnivorous and very flexible in its choice of food. Its diet may vary based on several factors, including the stage of the breeding cycle, short-term variations in available food, nutrient availability, and interspecific and intraspecific competition The majority of the mallard's diet seems to be made up of gastropods, insects (including beetles, flies, lepidopterans, dragonflies, and caddisflies), crustaceans, worms, many varieties of seeds and plant matter, and roots and tubers. During the breeding season, male birds were recorded to have eaten 37.6% animal matter and 62.4% plant matter, most notably the grass Echinochloa crus-galli, and nonlaying females ate 37.0% animal matter and 63.0% plant matter, while laying females ate 71.9% animal matter and only 28.1% plant matter. Plants generally make up the larger part of a bird's diet, especially during autumn migration and in the winter.
The mallard usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing; there are reports of it eating frogs. However, in 2017 a flock of mallards in Romania were observed hunting small migratory birds, including grey wagtails and black redstarts, the first documented occasion they had been seen attacking and consuming large vertebrates. It usually nests on a river bank, but not always near water. It is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and forms large flocks, which are known as "sordes."
Breeding
Mallards usually form pairs (in October and November in the Northern Hemisphere) until the female lays eggs at the start of the nesting season, which is around the beginning of spring. At this time she is left by the male who joins up with other males to await the moulting period, which begins in June (in the Northern Hemisphere). During the brief time before this, however, the males are still sexually potent and some of them either remain on standby to sire replacement clutches (for female mallards that have lost or abandoned their previous clutch) or forcibly mate with females that appear to be isolated or unattached regardless of their species and whether or not they have a brood of ducklings.
Nesting sites are typically on the ground, hidden in vegetation where the female's speckled plumage serves as effective camouflage, but female mallards have also been known to nest in hollows in trees, boathouses, roof gardens and on balconies, sometimes resulting in hatched offspring having difficulty following their parent to water.
Egg clutches number 8–13 creamy white to greenish-buff eggs free of speckles. They measure about 58 mm (2.3 in) in length and 32 mm (1.3 in) in width. The eggs are laid on alternate days, and incubation begins when the clutch is almost complete. Incubation takes 27–28 days and fledging takes 50–60 days. The ducklings are precocial and fully capable of swimming as soon as they hatch.[citation needed] However, filial imprinting compels them to instinctively stay near the mother, not only for warmth and protection but also to learn about and remember their habitat as well as how and where to forage for food. When ducklings mature into flight-capable juveniles, they learn about and remember their traditional migratory routes (unless they are born and raised in captivity).In New Zealand, where mallards are naturalised, the nesting season has been found to be longer, eggs and clutches are larger and nest survival is generally greater compared with mallards in their native range.
In cases where a nest or brood fails, some mallards may mate for a second time in an attempt to raise a second clutch, typically around early-to-mid summer. In addition, mallards may occasionally breed during the autumn in cases of unseasonably warm weather; one such instance of a ‘late’ clutch occurred in November 2011, in which a female successfully hatched and raised a clutch of eleven ducklings at the London Wetland Centre.
During the breeding season, both male and female mallards can become aggressive, driving off competitors to themselves or their mate by charging at them.[86] Males tend to fight more than females, and attack each other by repeatedly pecking at their rival's chest, ripping out feathers and even skin on rare occasions. Female mallards are also known to carry out 'inciting displays', which encourages other ducks in the flock to begin fighting. It is possible that this behaviour allows the female to evaluate the strength of potential partners.
The drakes that end up being left out after the others have paired off with mating partners sometimes target an isolated female duck, even one of a different species, and proceed to chase and peck at her until she weakens, at which point the males take turns copulating with the female. Lebret (1961) calls this behaviour "Attempted Rape Flight", and Stanley Cramp and K.E.L. Simmons (1977) speak of "rape-intent flights". Male mallards also occasionally chase other male ducks of a different species, and even each other, in the same way. In one documented case of "homosexual necrophilia", a male mallard copulated with another male he was chasing after the chased male died upon flying into a glass window.[89] This paper was awarded an Ig Nobel Prize in 2003.
Mallards are opportunistically targeted by brood parasites, occasionally having eggs laid in their nests by redheads, ruddy ducks, lesser scaup, gadwalls, northern shovellers, northern pintails, cinnamon teal, common goldeneyes, and other mallards. These eggs are generally accepted when they resemble the eggs of the host mallard, but the hen may attempt to eject them or even abandon the nest if parasitism occurs during egg laying.
Predators and threats
In addition to human hunting, Mallards of all ages (but especially young ones) and in all locations must contend with a wide diversity of predators including raptors, mustelids, corvids, snakes, raccoons, opossums, skunks, turtles, large fish, felids, and canids, the last two including domestic ones. The most prolific natural predators of adult mallards are red foxes (which most often pick off brooding females) and the faster or larger birds of prey, e.g. peregrine falcons, Aquila eagles, or Haliaeetus eagles. In North America, adult mallards face no fewer than 15 species of birds of prey, from northern harriers (Circus hudsonius) and short-eared owls (Asio flammeus) (both smaller than a mallard) to huge bald, (Haliaeetus leucocephalus) and golden eagles (Aquila chrysaetos), and about a dozen species of mammalian predator, not counting several more avian and mammalian predators who threaten eggs and nestlings.
Mallards are also preyed upon by other waterside apex predators, such as the grey heron (Ardea cinerea), the European herring gull (Larus argentatus), the wels catfish (Silurus glanis), and the northern pike (Esox lucius). Crows (Corvus spp.) are also known to kill ducklings and adults on occasion. Also, mallards may be attacked by larger Anseriformes such as swans (Cygnus spp.) and geese during the breeding season, and are frequently driven off by these birds over territorial disputes. Mute swans (Cygnus olor) have been known to attack or even kill mallards if they feel that the ducks pose a threat to their offspring.
The predation-avoidance behaviour of sleeping with one eye open, allowing one brain hemisphere to remain aware while the other half sleeps, was first demonstrated in mallards, although it is believed to be widespread among birds in general.
Status and conservation
Since 1998, the mallard has been rated as a species of least concern on the IUCN Red List of Endangered Species. This is because it has a large range–more than 20,000,000 km2 (7,700,000 mi2)–and because its population is increasing, rather than declining by 30% over ten years or three generations and thus is not warranted a vulnerable rating. Also, the population size of the mallard is very large.
Unlike many waterfowl, mallards have benefited from human alterations to the world – so much so that they are now considered an invasive species in some regions. They are a common sight in urban parks, lakes, ponds, and other human-made water features in the regions they inhabit, and are often tolerated or encouraged in human habitat due to their placid nature towards humans and their beautiful and iridescent colours. While most are not domesticated, mallards are so successful at coexisting in human regions that the main conservation risk they pose comes from the loss of genetic diversity among a region's traditional ducks once humans and mallards colonise an area. Mallards are very adaptable, being able to live and even thrive in urban areas which may have supported more localised, sensitive species of waterfowl before development. The release of feral mallards in areas where they are not native sometimes creates problems through interbreeding with indigenous waterfowl. These non-migratory mallards interbreed with indigenous wild ducks from local populations of closely related species through genetic pollution by producing fertile offspring. Complete hybridisation of various species of wild duck gene pools could result in the extinction of many indigenous waterfowl. The mallard itself is the ancestor of most domestic ducks, and its naturally evolved wild gene pool gets genetically polluted in turn by the domestic and feral populations.
Over time, a continuum of hybrids ranging between almost typical examples of either species develop; the speciation process is beginning to reverse itself. This has created conservation concerns for relatives of the mallard, such as the Hawaiian duck, the New Zealand grey duck (A. s. superciliosa) subspecies of the Pacific black duck, the American black duck, the mottled duck, Meller's duck, the yellow-billed duck, and the Mexican duck, in the latter case even leading to a dispute as to whether these birds should be considered a species (and thus entitled to more conservation research and funding) or included in the mallard species. Ecological changes and hunting have also led to a decline of local species; for example, the New Zealand grey duck population declined drastically due to overhunting in the mid-20th century. Hybrid offspring of Hawaiian ducks seem to be less well adapted to native habitat, and using them in re-introduction projects apparently reduces success. In summary, the problems of mallards "hybridising away" relatives is more a consequence of local ducks declining than of mallards spreading; allopatric speciation and isolating behaviour have produced today's diversity of mallard-like ducks despite the fact that, in most, if not all, of these populations, hybridisation must have occurred to some extent.
Invasiveness
Mallards are causing severe "genetic pollution" to South Africa's biodiversity by breeding with endemic ducks even though the Agreement on the Conservation of African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbirds – an agreement to protect the local waterfowl populations – applies to the mallard as well as other ducks. The hybrids of mallards and the yellow-billed duck are fertile, capable of producing hybrid offspring. If this continues, only hybrids occur and in the long term result in the extinction of various indigenous waterfowl. The mallard can crossbreed with 63 other species, posing a severe threat to indigenous waterfowl's genetic integrity. Mallards and their hybrids compete with indigenous birds for resources, including nest sites, roosting sites, and food.
Availability of mallards, mallard ducklings, and fertilised mallard eggs for public sale and private ownership, either as poultry or as pets, is currently legal in the United States, except for the state of Florida, which has currently banned domestic ownership of mallards. This is to prevent hybridisation with the native mottled duck.
The mallard is considered an invasive species in New Zealand, where it competes with the local New Zealand grey duck, which was overhunted in the past. There, and elsewhere, mallards are spreading with increasing urbanisation and hybridising with local relatives.
The eastern or Chinese spot-billed duck is currently introgressing into the mallard populations of the Primorsky Krai, possibly due to habitat changes from global warming. The Mariana mallard was a resident allopatric population – in most respects a good species – apparently initially derived from mallard-Pacific black duck hybrids; unfortunately, it became extinct in the late 20th century.
The Laysan duck is an insular relative of the mallard, with a very small and fluctuating population. Mallards sometimes arrive on its island home during migration, and can be expected to occasionally have remained and hybridised with Laysan ducks as long as these species have existed. However, these hybrids are less well adapted to the peculiar ecological conditions of Laysan Island than the local ducks, and thus have lower fitness. Laysan ducks were found throughout the Hawaiian archipelago before 400 CE, after which they suffered a rapid decline during the Polynesian colonisation. Now, their range includes only Laysan Island. It is one of the successfully translocated birds, after having become nearly extinct in the early 20th century.
Relationship with humans
Domestication
Mallards have often been ubiquitous in their regions among the ponds, rivers, and streams of human parks, farms, and other human-made waterways – even to the point of visiting water features in human courtyards.
Mallards have had a long relationship with humans. Almost all domestic duck breeds derive from the mallard, with the exception of a few Muscovy breeds, and are listed under the trinomial name A. p. domesticus. Mallards are generally monogamous while domestic ducks are mostly polygamous. Domestic ducks have no territorial behaviour and are less aggressive than mallards. Domestic ducks are mostly kept for meat; their eggs are also eaten, and have a strong flavour. They were first domesticated in Southeast Asia at least 4,000 years ago, during the Neolithic Age, and were also farmed by the Romans in Europe, and the Malays in Asia. As the domestic duck and the mallard are the same species as each other, It is common for mallards to mate with domestic ducks and produce hybrid offspring that are fully fertile. Because of this, mallards have been found to be contaminated with the genes of the domestic duck.
While the keeping of domestic breeds is more popular, pure-bred mallards are sometimes kept for eggs and meat, although they may require wing clipping to restrict flying, or training to navigate and fly home.
Hunting
Mallards are one of the most common varieties of ducks hunted as a sport due to the large population size. The ideal location for hunting mallards is considered to be where the water level is somewhat shallow where the birds can be found foraging for food. Hunting mallards might cause the population to decline in some places, at some times, and with some populations. In certain countries, the mallard may be legally shot but is protected under national acts and policies. For example, in the United Kingdom, the mallard is protected under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, which restricts certain hunting methods or taking or killing mallards.
As food
Since ancient times, the mallard has been eaten as food. The wild mallard was eaten in Neolithic Greece. Usually, only the breast and thigh meat is eaten. It does not need to be hung before preparation, and is often braised or roasted, sometimes flavoured with bitter orange or with port.
[Credit: en.wikipedia.org/]
With its head underwater, it appears that the strange duck, that appeared 4 days ago in Robson Park, is what they refer to as a dabbling duck. This Chocolate Barred Muscovy Duck isn't like your typical duck, because they don’t like to swim as often, due to their underdeveloped oil glands; however, this one is perfectly happy getting wet, and doesn't shake its feathers very much after getting out of the water in Surrey BC Canada.
Muscovies are quiet (a quack-less duck!) and humorous companions, and they are native to Mexico, Central, and South America. They are also known as a Common Duck, Forest Duck, and Greater Wood Duck. They have a reputation for being cranky. Muscovies raise their own young effortlessly, forage beautifully and will keep both the skitters and the slugs down in your garden. The original (wild type) coloration is black and white, but domestication has produced many more colors, including white, black, chocolate, and blue. The red puffy parts on its face are called wattles. The males are large, weighing up to twelve pounds, with the smaller females reaching only seven, A male will have a pronounced knob of skin at the base of his bill, the female does not. Both sexes have a domed crest on top of their heads which they can raise and lower depending on their mood. They prefer forest habitats near water, roost in trees at night, nest in tree cavities, and don’t like to swim as often as other ducks due to their underdeveloped oil glands, but they will dabble (half submerged and pointing its tail feathers upwards). They are, however, very personable, and quite intelligent. They fly fairly well, especially the smaller females, but are known more for flying around than flying away!
Also see:
Another dabble in the world of bus sales came Knotty's way with the opportunity to buy this ex London Country (via Tees & District) Bristol LHS TPJ 56S. Recent upstart in the world of North Staffordshire bus operation in the mid '90s, Matthews Motors / Handybus, needed a medium sized vehicle for a school service and to double up as a service spare. Fortunately I was able to find them the above which I then collected from NE Bus sales at Anfield Plane. It drove back really well, the only worry being the ability to re-start it if switched off for re-fuelling or a break as the batteries were an unknown quantity. Erring on the side of caution and biting my lip with regard to rip off Motorway prices, I called at Hartshead Moor Services on the M62 where the commercial pumps are on a downward slope ... It proved to be a timely move!
Back in Newcastle under Lyme the little bus is seen in my yard, unusually with two Bedfords for company. A quick pre-delivery spruce up and the bus was taken the remaining mile or so to the Handybus garage on the other side of the village where it was at the time.
Australian dabbling duck displaying its liking for coastal waterways by swimming with a small group in the Wynnum mangroves on the full tide. The sunlight filtering through the overhead branches cast a warm light on his plumage.
The mallard is a dabbling duck that breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Eurasia, and North Africa and has been introduced to New Zealand, Australia, Peru, Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, Chile, Colombia, the Falkland Islands, and South Africa. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae. The male birds have a glossy green head and are grey on their wings and belly, while the females have mainly brown-speckled plumage. Both sexes have an area of white-bordered black or iridescent blue feathers called a speculum on their wings; males especially tend to have blue speculum feathers. The mallard is 50–65 cm long, of which the body makes up around two-thirds the length. The wingspan is 81–98 cm and the bill is 4.4 to 6.1 cm long. It is often slightly heavier than most other dabbling ducks, weighing 0.72–1.58 kg. Mallards live in wetlands, eat water plants and small animals, and are social animals preferring to congregate in groups or flocks of varying sizes. This species is the main ancestor of most breeds of domesticated ducks.
I dabbled with the Bratzillaz for the first time in the fall of 2013. Up until that point, I had spurned the line, feeling it was a hideous. poorly done knock off of Monster High. But after procuring a few dolls, I began to warm up to the idea of Zillaz. I wouldn't say I was obsessed by any means in those early days. What ultimately sent me over the edge, and transformed me into a full blown Bratzillaz addict, was the Magic Night Out collection. During a shopping excursion, Colleen and I stumbled upon four of the six dolls in a Wal-Mart's clearance section. There was Jade, Meygana, Yasmina, and Cloetta. Although I was there to mostly peruse Barbies and Bratz, I took note of these Zillaz. They were a decent deal (maybe $9 each), which made them that much more tempting. But I resisted the urge...I did not need anymore Zillaz. At home, the image of Jade J'Adore was burned into my mind. I thought about her obsessively the rest of the day, wishing I had bought at least her. Something about Jade in particular was magical. The next day, we drove the 40 minutes or so again to the same Wal-Mart to purchase the four Magic Night Out ladies. I was blown away by their saran hair and captivating faces. Jade stood out to me because unlike other versions of her character, she had these soft, friendly, pink eyes (not red ones). Jade was ultimately the reason I was sent into a tail spin of purchasing all the Bratzillaz I could get my hands on. Of course, I wanted to complete this iconic set--I got Vampelina and Sashabella from Wal-Mart's website sometime later, with a gift card.
I love all the Bratzillaz in my collection, but the Magic Night Out set in particular means the most to me. Every time I look at these dolls, I am reminded of that exciting moment I had discovered my passion for something new. These dolls truly opened my mind to a world of new possibilities. Although I was already dabbling with Bratzillaz, it was this set that made me a maniac, and cemented these as one of my favorite Bratz spin off lines of all time. Jade is still one of the most sentimental Bratzillaz in my collection. But I adore each and every one of these ladies. Vampelina is so homely it is charming. Cloetta surprised me with her beauty when I undid her factory buns. Yasmina is strikingly unique because of her super short hair cut. Sashabella has the best quality outfit (that most reminds me of something a regular Bratz doll would wear). And Meygana's sleek design and bright red hair make her a force to be reckoned with!
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This is a repost of an alligator at the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. It appears in this month's issue of Dabble magazine. issuu.com/dabblemag/docs/issue_12_feb_14/27?e=2968944/652...
In the two years that I've been posting on Flickr, I've found my photos used without permission on a website and in a newspaper. This week I found out about a person who had stolen one of my photos along with many from other people and was posting them on Flickr as her own. Makes sense that some people put big copyright notices across their photos.
Dabble Magazine, however, asked to use this one in their issue featuring Savannah and I was happy to let them. I had no idea how they we're going to use it, but it is interesting how they chose the colors from the scene to use in decorating.
SPONSORS:
~DABBLE
--->NOA DRAPES
--->NOA CHAIR
--->NOA RUG
--->NOA PLANTER
--->NOA SIDE TABLE
--->NOA COFFEE TABLE
All at the Jail Event this month!
Ruth, dabbles in many thangs, and is a Belly Dancer, without a belly!!!
She got me into photography in the first place (she also snaps away), so I was getting directed as to what she wanted, it was quite breezy and very sunny, so a great day to capture this, one of hundreds of shots (many, as usual, will see the wastebasket!)
This set of shots were done at The Chattri Memorial for Indian and Sikh Soldiers who fought in WW1 for the UK and died in a hospital in Brighton. This is set on the original ground where they were allowed to honour their dead with traditional funeral pyres.
www.black-history.org.uk/chattri.asp
Also Ruth is 1/4 Indian, her father being 1/2 Indian, and he was one of the first Spitfire pilots in WW2... spending (I think) 6 years of his life not knowing if he was going to come home alive every day... now that is heavy s**t!
So I hope their spirits on the hill enjoyed the photo session (I'd like to think they did)... we did it with respect to all the dead and Ruths ailing father };0)>
I don't dabble too often into the world of Black and White but decided to give it a try with this image. The crew of the S-LPCTAC1-08A has just gotten the light to bring their train in around the Cameron Connection at CP 1844. The train will change crews in Galesburg, and then head north toward LaCrosse, WI, and ultimately for its final destination of Tacoma, Washington.
Don't mind the muck...
Mallard
Anas platyrhynchos
Bombay Hook
National Wildlife Refuge
Kent County, Delaware, USA
Sony a7 IV (ILCE-7M4)
Sony FE 200-600mm f/5.6-6.3 G OSS Lens
Sony 1.4x Teleconverter
12 January 2023
#1stPixBHNWR
Phil's 1stPix Instagram Phil's 1stpix Instagram
Phil's 1stPix on iNaturalist-Observation Map iNaturalist: Observations
Phil's 1stPix on iNaturalist- Species Grid iNaturalist: Species
This is the first of my dabbling in strip photography. Mr. Jason Kelly has produced some amazing photos and with the break from school and the bad weather my mind has been opened to the magic of moving film. I got some ideas brewing.
Anywho last night I watched American Movie which happens to be one of my all time favorite documentaries (and trust me that means something. I am a connoisseur of fine cinema).
I remember this Mark Borchardt quote from the first time I ever saw American Movie. The man speaks to me more than most. Sometimes I feel a lot like Mark in American Movie
“I believe it was yesterday I was called to the bathroom at the cemetery to take care of something. I walked into the bathroom and in the middle toilet right there somebody didn’t shit in the toilet somebody shat on the toilet, they shat on the walls, they shat on the floor.
I had to clean it up man, but before that for about ten to fifteen seconds man I just stared at somebody’s shit man. To be totally honest with you man it was a really, really profound moment.
I was thinking I’m 30 years old and in about ten seconds I gotta start cleaning up somebody’s shit man.” - Mark Borchardt