Showing posts with label Mallards. Show all posts

Monday, February 22, 2016

Mallard Duck Courtship and-and Mating

Pair of Mallards

It is winter and is the time for ducks to choose their mates. The drake ducks perform their courtship ritual for the females since the female who chooses, with whom she wants to mate.

Mallards have a couple of different courtship behaviors such as head-pumping, head-up-tail-up, nod-swimming and grunt-whistle. The other day when I was at Jenney Pond, I observed both a hen and drake mallard doing head-pumping right in front of me. They would dip their beak into the water, bring it up with the water drops dripping from the beak. When that was concluded the mallards perform their mating ritual, which has the drake holding on to the head of the female keeping her submerged.

Mallards Performing Head-Pumping

Mallards Mating

The reason I knew this would happen is not only just photographing the subjects but also paying attention to their behavior. The more you know about the behavior the more you know what to look for and be prepared for in order to capture the picture.

Tuesday, January 26, 2016

Plymouth, Massachusetts Bird Photography

Hooded Merganser and Gadwall

It was a beautiful morning and the kids and I return to Plymouth first starting at Jenney Pond. As usual, most of the pond was iced but there was enough open water and the usual species of ducks were present. Most of the fun were watching the interaction between ducks. drake bufflehead chasing drake bufflehead or hen bufflehead listening to hooting call of the drake hooded mergansers and watching the hooded mergansers puff out their throats and open the mouth and call.

Drake Bufflehead Being Chased by Another Drake Bufflehead

Drake Bufflehead Flapping

Drake Bufflehead chasing a hen

Hooded Mergansers Calling

You Can Look Right down the Throat of This Hooded Merganser

At Jenney's Pond, normally, a lot of people of feeding the ducks bread, which we know is not good nourishment for him. So when we come we always bring some crack corn so at least it will get some better food plus it makes for some interesting the photos as the birds fly in and as they all gather around to eat. The drake mallards were frisky today and fighting with one another.

Incoming Mallard

Mallard Fight

The pair of swans left and then came flying back in given us another opportunity for some bird in flight shots.

Mute Swans Landing

I finished my shooting at the harbor where I was able to capture the Icelandic gull by itself, and in flight.

Icelandic Gull

My Meetup group NANPA Meetup group of Eastern Massachusetts will be photographing the waterfowl at Jenney's Pond on February 14 starting at 7 AM. Any of my readers is welcome to join by signing up on the Meetup page http://www.meetup.com/NANPA-Nature-Photography-Group_of_Eastern-Massachusetts/

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Waterfowl at Jenney Pond Plymouth Massachusetts

American Black Duck

Yesterday after I dropped my grandson off at work , I Traveled down to Plymouth to Jenney Pond because there was a pair of common mergansers reported at that location. Since the weather has been below freezing most of the pond was frozen over which concentrates the waterfall into a smaller area. Because usually they are swimming along the father shore I utilized the to ask convertor on my 500 mm lens so I could get larger images into my pictures. However, at times I had too much lens because some of the action was taken place close to me and so I had to move backwards to try to get the entire duck in the picture.

There was a lot of mating action going on with the mallards. The Drake Mallard would climb on the back of the Hen Mallard, grab her head with his bill and complete the copulation. Afterwards the Drake would swim around with its head extended at the water line. Both of them would then preen and then flap their wings.