A couple of Wood Duck pics

Shot these a couple of days ago before the sun decided to disappear.

These are good, would be better without the duck in the BG of the second.

Thanks Stan. For some reason I never noticed the duck in the background. I guess I need to pay more attention.

They surely are beautiful ducks. Nice shots.

Where were the pictures taken? I have not ever seen this species of duck before.

Great shots of a beautiful duck!

Nice shots, love the colours on this bird.

sparker1 wrote in post #7391253
These are good, would be better without the duck in the BG of the second.

chubri777 wrote in post #7391856
Thanks Stan. For some reason I never noticed the duck in the background. I guess I need to pay more attention.

Huh?


Nice composition getting the female in the background where she wants to be and the vibrant male in front works great!

Greg

GregMik wrote in post #7393512
Huh?

Nice composition getting the female in the background where she wants to be and the vibrant male in front works great!

Greg

I concur. I've photographed wood ducks a bit lately, and spent some time purposefully trying to get one member of a pair in the foreground and one in the background, nicely blurred. Much tougher than it may seem.

By the way, Chuck, where were these images taken? Looks like they didn't mind you being close . . . wood ducks that let you get close are hard to find. Please let me know where. I just traveled 13 hours (one way) just for an afternoon of tolerant wood ducks, and I'd love to know of another such location.

- Tom

Thanks for looking and commenting everyone.
Tom, these were taken in Sacramento California....a bit more than 13 hours one way for you...but if you want to come down I'll gladly show you around. Maybe someday I'll head up your way for some Pheasants...your shots of them are awsome.
These ducks have become accustomed to humans as they are in the city in a park. There is a fairly large pond with a heavily wooded island in the middle. There are usually 10-20 pairs that nest here and in the winter the population will climb to as high as 200 birds. It's already thinning out now as I would guess there are less than 100 birds now. I have heard that there are a couple of other places around that have these kind of numbers as well. There are also a few free flying Mandarins in town as well and every now and then one will show up here.

Here is a not very good shot of the Woodies escorting the Mandarin out...and a better shot of just the Mandarin. I have probably taken several thousand shot of these ducks over the last year.

Chuck,

Sounds like a wonderful opportunity you have with these birds so close to home. The Mandarin shot is so unique with the reddish reflections on the water . . . makes me think of a kalidescope!

These ducks are unreal in their beauty. That last shot is terrific!

great color !!!!!!