Studies have shown that smoothing pets reduces stress, I think that watching ducks has the same effect, it is such a relaxing and comical pastime.
Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea) – female
1/800, f/5.6, ISO 1250
In the image above the ripples surrounding the teal give an idea of the frenzied preening that she was so focused on while the flurry of her feathers give an idea of how tiny she actually is. Chestnut Teals weigh approximately 650g. They are dabbling ducks that feed on insects, seeds and some vegetation, often flipping upside down to feed underwater.
Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea) – female
1/1600, f/5.6, ISO 1600
Her bathing regime was vigorous to say the least! I hoped to capture the action so doubled the shutter speed to 1/1600th of a second, even so there is some wing blur that shows the frenzied activity. Female Chestnut Teal are often confused with Grey Teal. The Grey Teal, male and female, look like a female chestnut apart from being slightly lighter with a tell-tale white chin and throat.
Chestnut Teal (Anas castanea) – male and female
1/1250, f/5.6, ISO 1250
The male Chestnut Teal is a striking-looking duck with his rich chestnut colouring and glossy green head. Both the male and female have bright red eyes. They mate for life and stay together all year, not just during the breeding season.
I was lucky to have lunch today with two of my favourite people, both are passionate about ducks and about ending the Victorian duck shooting season. Together we are working on an exciting project, I plan to share more in the coming weeks.
Happy birding
Kim
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Hi Kim.
What a wonderful set of images. This teal has amazing colours and female is so pretty. Perfect pictures Kim.
You are right. To see duck is soothing but what bird is not ?
All the best and happy weekend.
Thank you Nath. The colours are so rich aren’t they, and the females so sweet looking. Happy weekend to you too 🙂
I do hope that the project to end the duck shooting is a HUGE success.
Bathing birds always fascinate me (but then all birds do). Anthromorphis to the fore they do seem to love a good bath.
There is definitely something lovely about watching birds bathing and preening, I felt very privileged
Aww I love chestnut teal! These are gorgeous photos of such sweet little waterbirds. Hopefully it won’t be long until they are protected from duck shooters.
I totally agree about them being protected from shooters, the sooner the better!