View allAll Photos Tagged Dabble
Mallard ducks (Anas platyrhynchos) are known as "dabbling ducks", meaning that they don't dive when feeding, but rather tip over, tails up. They eat aquatic plants, seeds and other small stuff they can find, like snails. So, if you are trying to take a picture of one those beautiful iridescent green-headed ducks, and they do this in your direction...it's not you, they're just hungry ; -)
The mallard (/ˈmælɑːrd/ or /ˈmælərd/) (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 0.72–1.58 kg (1.6–3.5 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 domesticated ducks.
Stately and striking, Haddo House casts a huge impression from the moment you set eyes on it. Designed in 1732 by William Adam, the house underwent an opulent remodelling in the 1880s. As a result, it has the clean elegance and swooping lines of the Georgian style with a luxurious Victorian interior.
Family portraits trace generations of Gordons, who played a huge part in Scottish history. George Gordon, 1st Earl of Aberdeen was Lord Chancellor of Scotland; the 4th Earl served as Prime Minister. More recently, Haddo was a maternity hospital during World War II – over 1,200 babies were born here.
The house is surrounded by a terrace garden with a lavish herbaceous border and geometric flower beds.
A magnificent avenue of lime trees leads to Haddo Country Park.
Haddo House is a Scottish stately home located near Tarves in Aberdeenshire, approximately 20 miles (32 km) north of Aberdeen (grid reference NJ868347). It has been owned by the National Trust for Scotland since 1979.
The Gordons, who later became the Earls of Aberdeen and Marquesses of Aberdeen, have lived on the site for over 500 years.
Haddo House sits in or near the site of the old Kellie Castle, the family's previous dwelling which was burnt down by the Covenanters and dates from 1732; it was designed by William Adam in the Georgian Palladian style.
The interior of the house though is late Victorian in style, having undergone refurbishment in 1880 by Wright and Mansfield.
Haddo contains a large art collection, including a series of 85 castles by James Giles, an early work by Claude Lorrain and a Madonna believed to be by Raphael.
There are also several portraits of 19th-century British politicians.
A specially-made display cabinet contains the Cabot Commemorative State Dinner Service. The hand-painted porcelain service with twenty-four settings for an eight-course meal was made by members of the Woman's Art Association of Canada in 1897.
The Canadian government declined to pay the CDN$1,000 asking price. It was purchased privately by members of the House and Senate of Canada and presented on 12 June 1898 to Lady Aberdeen on the occasion of her husband ending his term as Governor-General of Canada.
John Smith did the design work for the kitchens and peripheral buildings in 1843. He returned there in 1845 and built the gate houses at the North and South entrances. Constructed in a rough coarse granite, these single storey buildings are in a Tudor style.
Haddo House's most notable former resident was George Hamilton-Gordon, 4th Earl of Aberdeen, the British prime minister from 1852–1855.
Another notable period in its history was during WW2 when the house became a maternity hospital for the evacuated mothers of Glasgow.
Nearly 1200 babies were born at Haddo Emergency Hospital, as it was known, and many still come back to visit known affectionately as the Haddo Babies.
The house has a small chapel attached. In the grounds is a theatre, Haddo House Hall, and rehearsal rooms, known as the Peatyards. Haddo House Choral & Operatic Society (HHCOS), a large and vibrant choral society formed in 1945, has its operations base there.
For over sixty years it has been noted for its annual musical and operatic productions.
Young Gadwall duck couple, male left with white wing patch, female with orange stripe along the lower part of her bill, and female (juvenile?) in back. These three looked about the size of Mallards. According to Cornell’s www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Gadwall/id, Gadwall (Anas strepera) often are seen in pairs, because “…they select their mates for the breeding season as early as late fall."
Knowledgeable birders could forego reading all of this. Non-birders might not want to, either. But I liked reading it. So much to know, so little....
Please note: If you want to be cool or erudite, Gadwall seems both singular and plural for these dabbling ducks.
“In a world where male ducks sport gleaming patches of green, red, or blue, the Gadwall’s understated elegance can make this common duck easy to overlook. Males are intricately patterned with gray, brown, and black; females resemble female Mallards, although with a thinner, darker bill. We don’t tend to think of ducks as pirates, but Gadwall often snatch food from diving ducks as they surface.
“Female Gadwall are easily overlooked as female Mallards, so look for the female Gadwall’s thinner bill with an orange stripe along the lower edge. Female Mallards have a thicker bill with orange blotches on the top. Gadwall have squarer heads than Mallards. Look for the white inner secondary feathers to rule out Mallard and other brown female ducks. In flight, Gadwall’s white belly readily separates them from female Mallards.”
Nikon D810, Nikkor 70-200mm f/2.8, 2x teleconverter (400mm)
1/1600 sec, f/5.6, ISO 800
manual exposure, tripod
Thanks for your fun comments on previous photo!
After years of dabbling with astrophotography (with little success), finally rigged up my old Meade 8" LX200 classic with an autoguider, did some serious homework, and came out with this image of the dumbbell nebula taken from my backyard in Austin, TX.
The autoguider (orion SSAG) made all the difference as I could get my exposure times way up w/o any tracking errors. It was awesome and tracked perfectly! I used the autoguider and phd running on my netbook to guide the scope and eosbackyard to capture the images (great piece of software). With the scope autoguiding, all I had to do was tell eosbackyard how many images I wanted, duration, and iso and I headed inside to wait it out. 2 hours later all the images were captured and only the processing challenge remained (which I still have much to learn / very different in astro)!
Tech details:
8" Meade LX200 classic with f/6.3 reducer
orion SCT skyglow filter (for light pollution)
canon 7d prime focused (eosbackyard controlling the shots)
orion SSAG attached to 50mm guide scope, guided by phd
shots:
20 flats (iso100, Av mode, of the uniform sky)
20 flat darks (same settings as flats with the lens cover on)
50 bias (iso100, 1/8000s, lens cover on)
30 lights (240s, iso1600)
10 darks (exact same settings as lights, lens cover on)
processing:
deepskystacker
cs4
Dabbling into the unknown , and I like the results. As I have said before..."you not only have to take a picture, you have to sometimes make a picture".
Timed the tide just right to enjoy all the dabblers and shorebirds and then enjoyed a picnic lunch and a pleasant spring walk along the bay.
An assortment of dabbling ducks and a marbled godwit finding lunch on the tidal mud flats.
On to Sunday morning, it was blowing a hooly so we spent a while in the wildlife lookout watch some Teal.... Please see Suffolk 2014 set www.flickr.com/photos/wendycoops224/sets/72157648289143460
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
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
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
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
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
(male, L; female, R) Anas fulvigula is a year-round resident of peninsular Florida and also occurs in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana, Texas, and northern Mexico. This dabbling duck is closely related to mallards and American black ducks. Sarasota, FL (18 February, 2019)
entered in the dabbled.org
Halloween Contest by Jen Shaw of
Pittsburgh PA
"Anyway, I thought that I would share some pics with you of my first real costume (other than the chili pepper bunting costume, which barely counts) for my son Elijah. He was 2 1/2 at the time, and, being a novice seamstress, I kind of made it up as I went along. It is hilariously big on him, but he was so obsessed with these sharks (Wobbegongs) that he was overjoyed to wear it around the neighborhood. He still wants to wear it occasionally, and it lives in the top bunk in his room, so it was worth the time spent! I made it from some scrap fleece, and painted it with non-toxic tempera paints. Most of it was machine stitched, though the face part was hand stitched, and I included the plastic head frame from a child's batting helmet for extra support (also stitched into place). I didn't have a pattern (still don't - I am sure that this will be a one-off costume!), so I worked from a drawing that my husband made for me. I have included a picture of a real wobbe, just for reference.
2017 Photograph, Male Northern Shoveler Dabbling (Anas clypeata, Duck Family, Anatidae), Huntley Meadows, Alexandria, Virginia, © 2017.
And to think it started with a simple, seemingly innocuous, dabble with a cheap film camera on eBay...
Here's how it snowballed out of control.
Tired looking F90x + battery grip on eBay comes up on the cheap. I'd been running through a film phase so thought I'd take a punt. One problem though, no lens. Richard volunteers a 50mm prime to get me started [thanks mate] and off I go.
Enjoying the reassuring clunk of the F90x, I pick up another, this time in excellent condition. Now the 50mm is feeling a little restrictive so I go for the 28-85mm as a useful standard zoom. Beginning to pick up the pace now I realise I'd like a telephoto to complete the set and pick up the 70-210mm. Oh, and of course a flash as the F90x doesn't have even a pop up unit, so the SB-24 comes to play.
Having got together a nice little 35mm outfit, this is where I really should have stopped...
Sadly I've never been that good at stopping and curiosity led me to eyeball the old Nikon digital stuff. A D1 for £90? Go on then, I can use it to hammer nails in if it doesn't work properly. Oh, but 28mm isn't very wide on a DX sensor. Better get an 18-55mm too then. Picked one up in faulty condition for £30 and fixed it. [D1 and 18-55mm used to take photo above]. Never really tried my hand at macro stuff so pick up an old Sigma 50mm macro + tubes off eBay next.
Beginning to really motor now, I'm loving the feel and ergonomics of the D1, but not the banding noise at ISO 400 and above. The D1x is next, much superior noise handling - at least it's random in nature.
Oh dear, someone on TalkPhotography wants a paltry sum for a Sigma 24-60mm f/2.8. I've always fancied a fast regular zoom. And there's an SB-28DX going for a song too, I'll have that thanks.
Mmmm, the frame rate of the D1x is a little restrictive, considering I like to shoot tennis and Will's football matches. 8 fps should do the trick nicely I reckon, so it's hello D2x and goodbye 450D [sob..].
Richard kindly mentions a couple of killer lenses in the Nikon system, and before you know it the 180mm f/2.8 is in Leicester having been picked up from TalkPhotography again.
It's a great lens, truly sharp, but restrictive for sports. So there's someone on TP flogging a 70-200mm f/2.8 is there? OK then, but I'd better get a 1.4x teleconverter if I fancy a spot of birding with it.
What's left? Well it would nice to go wider than 18mm wouldn't it? After all I could go to 15mm with my Canon outfit. Best add a 10-20mm too then.
Well thanks eBay and TalkPhotography; as a result of a whim purchase and a total lack of self control I now have a rather comprehensive Nikon set up.
There's got to be a moral in here somewhere; be very careful the next time you're tempted by a seemingly innocent purchase, it may not end up being quite as "cheap" as you anticipated, lol!
[order] Anseriformes | [family] Anatidae | [latin] Anas crecca | [UK] Teal | [FR] Sarcelle de hiver | [DE] Krickente | [ES] Cerceta común | [IT] Alzavola comune | [NL] Wintertaling
Measurements
spanwidth min.: 53 cm
spanwidth max.: 59 cm
size min.: 34 cm
size max.: 38 cm
Breeding
incubation min.: 21 days
incubation max.: 23 days
fledging min.: 25 days
fledging max.: 30 days
broods 1
eggs min.: 8
eggs max.: 12
Physical characteristics
Male Green-winged Teal have a dark grey body with a russet head, and a large, dark-green eye-patch extending to its nape. Females are light mottled brown with a dark eye-line characteristic of all dabbler females. When breeding, both sexes have a white belly that is conspicuous in flight and a vibrant dark-green speculum with buff borders; often the only obvious color visible
Habitat
Green-winged Teal prefer wooded ponds but can also be found in deciduous wooded ponds surrounded by grassy upland areas. During migration, both spring and fall, green-wings tend to choose shallow inland wetlands with abundant floating and emergent vegetation, but also use tidal mudflats more often than any other duck. Wintering Greenwings will use freshwater shallow marshes and riparian sloughs, but can also be found in saltwater estuaries and agricultural areas.
Other details
The nominate race of this duck inhabits northern Eurasia and the carolinensis race North America. For practical reasons, the European populations can be divided in two sub-populations, separated mainly by their wintering quarters. The first, estimated at 400000 individuals and undergoing a definite increase, is wintering along the Atlantic coasts from Denmark to the British Isles and Aquitaine. During very strong winters it reaches Spain and Portugal, but in mild winters the birds of the Netherlands and the British Isles are almost sedentary. The second population is estimated at 750000-1375000 individuals, but its trends are unknown. It winters in the Black Sea region and around the Mediterranean. Only a small fraction of these birds is reaching West Africa
Feeding
The Green-winged Teals diet is very diverse, relying on insects and aquatic vegetation. An opportunistic feeder, the Greenwing varies its diet according to what is most abundant at the time. Vegetation is eaten mostly in the fall and winter, consisting mainly of seeds of grasses, sedge and emergent vegetation, as well as the occasional agricultural crop. During the breeding season, Greenwings rely more on animal matter such as aquatic insects, larvae, mollusks, crustaceans and sometimes fish eggs. A true dabbler, Greenwings often feed by tipping-up with their head under the surface of the water or collecting seeds and insects by skimming the water with its bill. More than any other duck, Greenwings will feed along mud flats, foraging for seeds, insects and mollusks.
Conservation
This species has a large range, with an estimated global Extent of Occurrence >10,000,000 km2. It has a large global population estimated to be 6,500,000-7,600,000 individuals1. Global population trends have not been quantified, but the species is not believed to approach the thresholds for the population decline criterion of the IUCN Red List (i.e. declining more than 30% in ten years or three generations). For these reasons, the species is evaluated as Least Concern [conservation status from birdlife.org]
Breeding
Greenwings form pair ponds relatively late in the season compared with other dabbling ducks, often not until late January all the way to March. Although they break their pair bond each year, Greenwings are monogamous throughout the breeding season; however, occasionally paired males will attempt forced extra-pair copulations with other females. After an elaborate sequence of displays, the female will show her approval by performing her inciting display next to her mate of choice. Once the pair is ready to mate, they will perform some reciprocated head pumping, and then will copulate on the water. Nesting females will choose an area to nest that is well concealed, with thick brush, sedge or grasses. Nesting females will choose an area to nest that is well concealed, with thick brush, sedge or grasses. She will often scrape out an area or choose a depression on the ground to construct a nest bowl by using surrounding grasses, twigs and leaves. Like other ducks, the female will also use her body feathers to aid in keeping the eggs warm, dry and concealed. The surrounding vegetation will usually form a type of canopy, concealing the nest from predators. In most cases, a female will lay one egg per day until the clutch is complete, usually 10-12 eggs. Shortly after incubation begins, the male will abandon his mate and begin to moult. During this process, he will shed his breeding plumage into a drab, hen-like plumage and remain flightless for several weeks, until growing back into his breeding plumage in preparation for fall migration and another breeding season.
The female, meanwhile, will incubate her eggs for approximately 3 weeks after her last egg is laid. Once her ducklings have hatched, she moves them to water within the first day, where the precocial young will be reared. Often ducklings are unable to maintain a high body temperature when first hatched, and the female will continue to brood during wet and cold periods.
Migration
Partially migratory, northernmost breeding birds descending to lower latitudes in winter, as far S as equator (Kenya), but breeders of more temperate regions present throughout year.
Recently, Guy K. Wyndzon made a fairly significant outlay in scientific chemicals and instruments. Today he finally wrapped business up enough to dabble a little.
After walking into the room that used to be the great hall, located in the older wing of his prestigious mansion, Guy spent some time organizing and unpacking his precious collection. At last he found what he was in search of - a crystal vial filled with a purplish goo. "Aha!" he exclaimed. Gingerly he lifted the container and then made a dash at a little glass tube that lay nearby. "A little of this, then I think, with a little of that...” Cautiously he poured the vaporous liquid from the vial into the tube.
"So beautiful!" Guy held the tube up admiringly.
But as he continued looking, Guy was suddenly shocked by seeing a vision of his Uncle through the purple vapor!
Guy’s loud scream echoed off the high ceiling.
He dropped one of the tubes and just managed to hold on to the other as he stepped backwards into the table from sheer astonishment - and perhaps from a bit of fear, too.
"What have you done?!?!?" His Uncle's voice seemed to thunder through the hall.
Guy was speechless.
"What... what foppery have you introduced in here? With what nonsense have you ventured to desecrate this time-hallowed hall?!? What maniacal fever could have impelled you to so thoroughly forget reason as to squander such a quantity of hard-earned money?!?!"
Never in his life had Guy heard his Uncle say so many words at one time!
At last he recovered the use of his voice. "Not nonsense, Uncle - science!" And Guy waved his arm around grandly.
His Uncle’s eloquence had been exhausted, but he still stood there like an avenging angel, his stick resting firmly and immovably on the floor, his eyebrows gathered like lightning-bolts over his frowning eyes.
“Look,” Guy began, “look – see – all these wonderful chemical compounds – discoveries just begging to be made! Imagine what we could do with…”
“Not interested!”
“By the way, Uncle – I thought you were in Weelond.”
“I was.”
“Oh. Well – to go on – see, I’m at present deeply immersed in a groundbreaking research paper. I think I shall title it, ‘On the Three Shades of Gold and the Interactions Between Them, or, An Exposition of the Similarities and Differences Between the Warm, Pearl, and Chrome Shades of the Element Known as Gold.’ I’m considering adding an epilogue that details the specific effects of Aqua Regia upon each one.” Guy paused, but seeing that his Uncle did not appear inclined to make a comment, he continued, “Above – that is, on the next story – you can see the magnificent contraption that I have but just assembled; it makes electricity! Just think of what could be done with such a source of power!” Guy seemed about to begin a long eulogy, but a yawn from his Uncle made him continue to a different subject. “Then, you see, a new discovery has just been made and I long to corroborate it! According to a well-known scientist of Corrington, the legs of a frog twitch when brought into contact with certain machinery…”
“Frog legs?” Guy’s Uncle interposed, suddenly interested.
“Yes!” Guy exclaimed, pleased to see that his Uncle was paying some attention. “So it is said – and I have just received three crates of tropical frogs, straight from our new island, Torrach Bonn…”
“Are you going to waste these expensive frogs on some silly experiment?!?”
“No, no, of course not – we can eat them afterwards!”
“Hum! You had better be sure not to add any strange-smelling stuff.”
“Certainly not – but, by the by… what are you doing here?”
“I’m here to tell you to pack.”
“To tell me to pack? Whatever for?”
“Your ship leaves tomorrow.”
“Well? – I know that.”
“And you leave with it.”
“What?!”
“You’re coming to the New World.”
Guy stared blankly at his Uncle.
“It’s all arranged. I got you a house in Bardo.”
Guy’s jaw dropped.
“Come on, let’s go eat those frog legs.”
“Wait! – wait! I have to experiment on them first!…”
Just dabbling. It is raining cats and dogs....yes indeed. Had 200mm of rain the past 24 hours and it has not stopped today. Local flooding here and there. No doubt much more to come this week. Even braved going to the Botanical Gardens for our Photgraphic Club outing this morning. Yes, we are nuts!!
I was dabbling with Black and White today; It's a part of photography I know little about really. I loaded this lighthouse photo into the free picasa software, applied a B&W filter and tweaked the sliders a bit.
Camera - Nikon D700
Lens - Nikon 16-35mm
Exposure -1/30sec
Focal length - 27mm
Aperture - f/16
ISO Speed -200
Quality - raw processed in capture NX2
© Copyright 2012 John McCormick , All Rights Reserved
Again testing out the low light capabilities of the K1. I have to say I am massively impressed with this camera both for the resolution of its sensor and the tiny amount of noise at high ISO.
The lighting here was dreadful but I have a punchy image with plenty of contrast and shadow detail left to be teased out in Camera RAW. Some noise reduction used, of course, but you have to crop in a long way to see it. Can't wait for the weather to brighten up.
I've dabbled in astrophotography in the past but never very successfully. After recently reading online about how to better setup my camera settings, I was happy with how a few recent shots turned out. It's really incredible just how many stars are up there, and how many a camera can capture which can't be seen by the human eyes.
(17mm, f/4 at 25 seconds, ISO 2000)
The American wigeon (Anas americana), also baldpate, is a species of dabbling duck found in North America.
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 (1.129–2.932 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
The American wigeon is often the fifth most commonly harvested duck in the United States, behind the mallard, green-winged teal, gadwall, and wood duck
The American wigeon is a bird of open wetlands, such as wet grassland or marshes with some taller vegetation, and usually feeds by dabbling for plant food or grazing, which it does very readily. While on the water, wigeon often gather with feeding coots and divers, and are known to grab pieces of vegetation brought to the surface by diving water birds. For this reason, they are sometimes called "poacher" or "robber" ducks. Wigeon also commonly feed on dry land, eating waste grain in harvested fields and grazing on pasture grasses, winter wheat, clover, and lettuce. Having a largely vegetarian diet, most wigeon migrate in the fall well before northern marshes begin to freeze.
The American wigeon is highly gregarious outside of the breeding season and will form large flocks. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_wigeon
++ ++ ++ ++ ++ ++
image by Photo George
©2009/2017 GCheatle
all rights reserved
locator: CAL_6514
My late father only dabbled with photography, but I am keen to showcase what there is of his legacy. I remember the occasion he took this view of Grimsby Fish Docks. The date is Summer 1956, and there were centennial celebrations of the Docks at Grimsby. Prince Albert dug the first sod of what became the Royal Dock in 1854 and GY's docks opened for business some two years later. The Fish Docks were a later development, but by 1900 Grimsby and its great rival across the Humber - Hull - together mustered the largest distant-water fishing fleets in the world. It was all developed on an industrial scale, steam taking over from sail at an early date. I am unable to identify the GY registration of the trawler in this view, but she clearly is a coal-fired vessel. In the distance behind are the coal-hoists, a trio of rail-connected sentinel-landmarks at the New Clee end of the Fish Dock Estate. These coal hoists would soon become redundant as the GY trawler fleet was moving rapidly to oil or else investing in sleek new diesel motor vessels. The coal hoists were demolished in the early 1960s. They always reminded me of soldiers standing to attention.
I'm dabbling in pose making! This is becoming quite necessary as we are working on the project of "Beauty Vamp Magazine" and running into situations where we can't find the poses that are exactly right for some pictures.
So far I have used Qavimator and Anypose. I have all new respect for pose makers! It's not that easy to make it look so natural and fluid. But this is literally the 3rd pose I've tried, so I'm off to a good start.
If you think I look stiff, then you have no idea what I'm cuddling up to ;)
These impressive birds, with green feathered masks and a cream colored cap, are American Wigeon drakes (drakes being the name for male ducks). They have already begun their migration from the more northern reaches of North America to southern wintering grounds like Bosque del Apache National Wildlife Refuge. Wigeons are dabbling ducks. That means that they procure their meals predominantly by eating from the surface rather than diving. However, it is said that they do have a peculiar propensity to steal pieces of vegetation brought to the surface by other diving birds. You can pick out dabbling ducks easily. They are the birds who spend time with their tails pointed skyward and their heads under water. Diving ducks, on the other hand, do just that. They will dive under the water and resurface some distance away. Whether dabbling or diving, it all sounds just ducky to me! #ILoveWildlife #ILoveNature #ILoveBirds #WildlifePhotography in #NewMexico #Nature in #BosquedelApacheNWR #AmericanWigeon #Wigeon National Wildlife Federation The National Audubon Society #Photography #DrDADBooks #Picoftheday #Photooftheday
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see here for tutorial
mewithmyheadintheclouds.blogspot.co.uk/p/painted-circles-...
and here for inspiration
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
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
The Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) is a dabbling duck which breeds throughout the temperate and subtropical Americas, Europe, Asia, and North Africa, and has been introduced to New Zealand and Australia. This duck belongs to the subfamily Anatinae of the waterfowl family Anatidae.
The Mallard is a medium-sized waterfowl species, although 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 0.72–1.58 kg (1.6–3.5 lb).
The Mallard is omnivorous and very flexible in its foods choice. Its diet may vary based on several factors, including the stage of the breeding cycle, short-term variations in available food, nutrient availability, and inter- and intraspecific competition. The majority of the Mallard's diet seems to be made up of gastropods, invertebrates (including beetles, flies, lepidopterans, dragonflies, and caddisflies), crustaceans, worms, many varieties of seeds and plant matter, and roots and tubers.
Spotted at South Port, near Blackpool, Lancashire. This picture is cordially dedicated to my dear friend Sarfraz Hayat.