Wood ducks headshots

I see this kind of duck all the time at a nearby nature trail by a lake. Both of these were a couple, they jumped on the boardwalk railing from the water right after I strolled by. I decided to capture their portrait:

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/zUCu​XA

IMAGE LINK: https://flic.kr/p/Ag1o​9B

striking images- I love these guys

great shots of one of my favorite ducks! have tons of photos of them, but i never tire of seeing more...

Excellent shots. Agree with Capt Bob.

Such an amazing pair...well done!

Excellent portraits!

Beauties!!!

Bokeh in the background is a little weird to me. Seems uneven. Maybe my eyes but the smoothness expected is not there, hum! Maybe just different. Can you describe the lens more? Brand, etc.

Awesome portrait shots; love the pose of the little female - so very sweet!

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. Wood ducks are common at this place (as well as mallards), they sure aren't shy, as long as you don't try to reach to touch them. I'm pretty sure they expect humans to feed them (even though it's forbidden at this place), because when we're walking on the boardwalk the ducks tend to swim closer to us, and even fly up on the planks and railings.

The males always do their low wheezing sound, like a squeaky toy with the flu. And for this session, the female was very curious, kept on turning its head as if trying to look behind me. I also liked the goofy pose, but what strikes me the most is the sky reflection in the eye.

davidfig wrote in post #17777685
Bokeh in the background is a little weird to me. Seems uneven. Maybe my eyes but the smoothness expected is not there, hum! Maybe just different. Can you describe the lens more? Brand, etc.

It's the Olympus 40-150 f4.0-5.6 basic zoom, no filter for the occasion. I used it at the far end, and the subjects were pretty close, about 4-5 feet. Background is mostly tree branches or dried tall grass, there isn't much foliage left in the trees up here at this time of the year.

Love that first one!