Sweetwater Shovelers

One of birds I most wanted to see in Arizona was a Northern Shoveler. I've been looking for a Northern Shoveler for years. That's not an exaggeration, either. I just had to see one, and I was thrilled to learn that Shovelers are among the most common ducks in southeast Arizona.  We got up bright and early on our first full day in  in Tucson, and headed out to Sweetwater where my son had assured me I would get my fill of Shovelers.

Minutes after our arrival I was jumping up and down with excitement. There they were! Northern Shovelers! Lots of them! Tom and I were clicking away like crazy, and we got some damn good pictures.

The Shoveler’s incredibly long bill was as fantastic as I had imagined. These ducks look nothing like any other species I've come across. I was surprised by how tiny they were, though. They're much smaller than mallards, for instance.

Other than size, and if you exclude that great big black bill, there are a lot of similarities between Mallards and Northern Shovelers.  Perhaps too many similarities!

It didn't take long for me to notice that there were more hybrids paddling around than any one single species.  It was patently obvious that Mallards, Wigeons, Shovelers, and God knows what else were interbreeding like crazy.  The family group pictured above is a good example of what I'm talking about!

In all honesty, my love affair with shovelers was somewhat short-lived.  Not that I dislike them, mind you. I'm just not head over heels any longer.  Who could resist a photo op like this one. though?

Fantastic Flight Photos!

My husband took all of these fantastic birds in flight group. He is awesome at the action shots! This is a female mallard coming in for a landing right under the bridge.


Female Mallard after the crash landing.


My husband also captured an incredible series of this mallard in flight with his shadow on the icy water.


Another of the mallard with reflection.


This is a ring-billed duck in flight, taken from an unusual angle. I love that eye!

Wordless Wednesday Mallard Head

Last duck show for the year?

Yesterday all my favorite sites were frozen over and barren of bird life. I hope the rain brings everything back to normal. but just in case here's another look at last weeks duck species bonanza. This is the perfect Northern Pintail.


Male and Female Hooded Mergansers - don't you love 'em?


Male American Wigeon in first winter plumage.


Mallard mates.


Last weekend's winter wonderland of ducks and geese; now a frozen wasteland.

Concord and Sudbury

I could barely hold my camera in the gusty wind, but despite a little blur I really liked this image.


A family of Mute Swans flew in while I was there, making so much noise I thought there must be a dozen or more. In fact, there was only five; one adult and four juveniles. The juvenile swans will turn white over the winter.


Hager Pond in Sudbury, MA is right next to a nice looking restaurant, and the fenced in pond contains quite a few domestic ducks and geese. I truly hope they aren't there in case a customer orders a duck dinner!


AN interesting view of the male Mallard's head feathers. The feathers are shaped in such a way that they sometimes appear green, sometimes blue, and sometimes both! The male Mallard's head feather's are actually black.


leafcircle
A lone leaf blown onto the water.

Mallard Magic!

Isn't she gorgeous? What about her amazing camouflage?


The mallards were seen at the Fenwick Street dam in Framingham, MA.


Of course, they flew away as soon as they saw me.


A male mallard's head feathers are actually black. The shape of the feather is such that it reflects light in two opposite directions. If the light hits the feather at one angle, you see the color green.


If the light hit at a different angle, you see a blue or purple head color. It is call interference lighting. The same phenomenon is seen in pheasant's neck feathers and in hummingbirds.


Iridescent green head at the Fenwick Street dam.


Iridescent blue under the bridge at Wickford Street.

Mallards and Mergansers

There were quite a few beautiful mallards travelling together - both males and females in the group, Could these two be mother and daughter? Or are there wide discrepancies in the same age group? I suppose either is a real possibility, especially in this cold weather. Aren't they lovely, though?


There were even more sparkly green heads of the male mallards than there were females.


This is an artistic photo of ice on the river. (comments not required!)


I have a theory about my little hooded merganser friend. He didn't flee from me until he was joined by his mate, an act that took all of 2 seconds. I was looking up at a hawk for a sec, and when I turned back they were both running across the water and into the sky. If I ever get a shot like that I will never whine about being a lousy photography again!


She could have been anywhere in that dark and thorny riverbank.


Seriously, she could be hiding in plain sight! If you look at this picture in large or original size on flickr, it almost looks as if he is calling out - although not with a sound I could hear. When I turned by back, they were just about airborne and long gone a second later.

Duck, Duck, Goose

I went to Broadmoor Wildlife Sanctuary in Natick last weekend to see the Grebe that had been there all week, but I never saw him. I saw lovely mallards by the dozen, however.


The sheen of a male mallard's head is gorgeous in the sunlight. The sun speckled water was pretty, as well.


Late fall colors are far different than the riotous hues of peak foliage season, but the muted colors are lovely in their own right.


There were mallards all over the place. All the vegetation at Broadmoor provides great cover for water birds; even male mallards are hard to see. If there was any other species of duck around, I didn't see any sign of them.


One the other hand, who could complain about seeing too many mallards? They are beautiful, after all!


Canadian Geese are lovely in their own right, too. Even lovelier if they are perfectly reflected in sun dappled water, like this one.

Charles's Pond was a Wonderland!

A Great Blue Heron from about 10 feet away! And this happened AFTER I thought I had finished my best photography day ever!


I went around back for one last look at the lake, and the GBH was sitting on Charles's boat! I had searched for him ALL DAY without success, but now he let me creep up close and shoot over 100 images for more than 45 minutes!


Charles is a friend of my daughters, and it's thanks to him that I had my finest photography day ever. Charles's apartment is right on Chandler Pond in Brighton, MA (across from St. John's Seminary on Lake St.)


Charles and Meg had often told me about the resident Great Blue Heron on the lake, and I went there today to try for a photo. I never expected to get so close or have such a long photo op!


I never expected a Hooded Merganser, either! MY FIRST! Another lifer! He was the very first thing I saw when I approached the lake early this afternoon.


Here is the male and the female Hooded Merganser. I love that fuzzy, spiky head she has!


I even managed to catch him taking off, which was a breathtaking sight!


A closer look at the female Hooded Merganser.


I didn't know what I was looking at when I shot this picture! A closer look reveals it is a male Hooded Merganser with his head facing backwards and reflected on the water's surface.


Another reflected merganser.


I also captured the best mallard shots I've ever taken on Charles's lake today. Here is a nice reflected Mallard looking regal (and a little perturbed at me).


A mallard in the shade at the water's edge.


A beautiful female mallard.


A gorgeous male giving me a wary look.

There are more exciting pictures from Brighton still to come. And I have over 100 photos from Charles's pond that haven't even been downloaded yet. There could be dozens more that are winners! Thank you, Meg and Charles, for giving me my best photography day EVER. It was exactly what I needed and exactly when I needed it most, if you know what I mean.