I Just Can't Stop Taking Pictures of Ducks!...

Seeing many animals this time of year has slowed down for us

when we go exploring in the woods.

But whenever we see open water, I look longingly for life...especially ducks.

I found a family of them this week and they were more than happy to pose for me!

Here the family swimming in the icy water:

This could be a female younger one:

Ooooooo....

I just love the male's green head!:

She just happened to stretch and I just happened to click!:




I think this is the dad, their younger female offspring and the mom.
What a pretty family!:



But, oh...the DAD!! He is sooooo pretty!:




I don't know if this lighting made one duck look like different than a mallard or if there was a different kind of duck with them...I got too cold and ran back into the truck after snapping this one!:

But I love seeing ducks in open water in the winter.

Did you see that ice shelf in the above picture????

Brrrrr.................

*Reminder!: Today is FEB. 24th...remember to enter a photo to the free Photography Contest. ONLY FOUR DAYS LEFT, PEOPLE!!! February's theme is "Critter Closeups". Please enter your photo by midnight on Feb. 28th to the address listed in these rules. Best of Luck to all the entries!I will be showing all the entries in an upcoming blogpost and announcing the winner of February's contest by Mar. 15th....stay tuned!!!

Down by the Dock: Ducks!! (Part Two of Two)

This is Part Two of a two part series of pictures of ducks that came to visit me last week at our lake.

They were swimming out towards the middle of our lake and when they saw me on the dock, they came swimming up to me, blessing me with some really nice closeups of them.

I worry about that.

Because here, it is duck season!!!

I fear these were so tamed during the summer that they were not afraid of people.

Luckily, most of our lake is inhabited by cabins or homes so there are not many areas of the lake where hunters can come duck hunting for them.

If they stay in our bay, we are right on Main Street of town, so they are super safe there.

Just look how pretty this female mallard's "backside" is!!

And her bright yellow bill! (Along with a drop of slobber!):

They swam into our bay where the fall colors helped hide them a bit:

Three lovely ducks!:

The one on the right is shaking the water off of her head.

It made me laugh:

I loved their reflections along with the fall color:

I think all this drinking is why she slobbers so much!:





And besides all that drinking, slobbering, and shaking their heads, they also scratch themselves a lot.


I wonder if they are JOCKS???

Despite their lack of manners, I like them anyway!!

They win me over with their sweet faces and beauty.

I hope they stay safe this duck hunting season....

and I hope they make it back to the lake next spring

to make me some more babies to photograph.

Maybe I should talk to them (woman to lady ducks) about getting rid of all that excessive drinking, slobbering, shaking and scratching so they better lure all those unsuspecting male Mallards to mate with....

Do you think it is a lost cause????