Delightful dabbling ducks

Delightful dabbling ducks dabble daily at dawn and dusk. And at other times too but I couldn’t think of anything to continue the alliteration without sounding totally ridiculous.

This Chestnut Teal duckling is one of the most challenging shots I’ve ever captured. The newly hatched duckling was alone in the pond, being quietly stalked by a pelican. The duckling was spinning around so quickly that it created a vortex in the surface of the water. I can still hardly believe that I managed to capture a shot that wasn’t a blur of its back. And then I noticed the perfect reflection. I need to see this photograph as a print, I’ll add that to my extremely long to-do list.

Oh, I must let you know that this little one was reunited with its parents and some siblings when they emerged from the reeds, and the pelican sidled lazily away.

Female Chestnut Teals look very similar to Grey teals, their feathers are slightly darker and they lack the brighter white of the throat. This is another shot with beaut detail; I especially love the detail in the pond weed clinging to her feathers.

I’m at the Victorian Association of Photographic Societies annual convention this weekend. I arrived in time to look at some of the fabulous prints in the exhibition and plan to savour each and every one of them over the next two days. Please come and say g’day if you see me at the venue.

Happy birding, Kim

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~ Etsy – prints via me at  Kim Wormald lirralirra