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Friday, January 29, 2010

Just Ducky

I finally found something I've been looking for for several months! I took these pictures of this duck in September of last year. There was so much happening at the time, that I didn't have a chance to show these to you. Then I lost track of them. When I came back for them I forgot where they were.

But now after a lot of searching through my archives I've found them again. I wanted to share them because I thought this was such a pretty little duck. You have to click the pictures to see just how attractive this duck really is. Her coloring seems to blend just perfectly.

You might also notice how yellow her coloring is. She appears to be a female mallard, and she was swimming with a group of other mallard ducks, but she has such a unique color to her. I've never seen another with this color. Either she is a hybrid of some sort, or mallards come in more colors than I thought.

Most female mallards I've seen are mostly brown in color. Maybe the reason for her unique coloring is because she is very young. I'm not going to speculate much further than this, but I did check around a bit to see if I could find a match. I never found what I was looking for.

I think my favorite thing about this dick is her really beautiful orange and black bill. Seeing it up close is what drew me to this duck in the first place. I remember being mesmerized while looking at these pictures a couple of months ago.

The place I saw this duck was at the creek that the dam I showed you yesterday empties into. Water birds love it down there. I've seen all sorts of birds swimming or wading in that little stream at the base of the dam. Ducks are the only ones that stick around long enough for me to get any pictures though. The others fly away as soon as they see me.

That's mostly it for today. I just wanted to make sure I shared these pictures with you. She is such a unique duck. I hope I see her again when this flock comes back when the weather gets warm. Maybe she will look different by then. Brown like all the others. That's okay because I like them too.

One last unrelated thing. I've been very busy in the outside world lately. I haven't had much time for blogs or internet, but I've still been trying my best to keep up with everything. I've been reading blogs in the mornings because that's when I have the most time right now. But I'm never finished with all of my favorites when it's time for me to go. It will be a few more days before my time is free enough again, but I'll still try to keep caught up as much as possible. That's all.

15 comments:

  1. She is free enough to wander around, no time limit.

    We have to fight against the time, to squeeze a little for blogging, and sacrifice many other things.

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  2. She is very special, indeed Ratty! I agree that her colors are quite different from others that I've seen too.

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  3. Cute duck and pretty. Thanks for sharing and have a great day!

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  4. That a very special colored duck. As I expected, got living creature swimming in that dam :)

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  5. I'm wondering maybe that duck is not a she but a young he..........if not she is a very unique.Nice pics too thanks Ratty

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  6. Hi Ratty...she is a spectacular looking duck. All ducks and drakes have individual colouring and markings so that their babies know who there parents are. this is definitely a female though...as she is of the brown variety and all drakes are more striking. I don't know whether she is a mallard duck for sure but I think so!!

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  7. She's beautiful.
    I love the ducks.
    I thought for a while there that you found open water this winter with ducks, like I was lucky enough to find.....but its okay that these are earlier photos, I loved them just the same anyway!

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  8. i love ducks too, especially how they walk, i used to when I was small copy how the ducks walk :) she is a beauty, your picture caught her well.

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  9. oh she is a pretty duck. you got some great shots of her too. Don't feel bad about the time crunch, I know how that feels.

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  10. Hi there! First time to visit your blog. I love animals! Cute duck photo you got here. BTW, I followed you and added your blog to my list. Hoping you'll do the same. Just buzz me up when you do, ok? ;-)

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  11. She has very nice colors on her feathers. Beautifully captured!

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  12. I think she has to be a hybrid with a domestic white duck. They often breed with mallards and end up with some very interesting color patterns. I agree that she is really pretty.

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  13. Oh... it is a she. Males have a curly tail feather.

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  14. She is a beauty Ratty, her yellow markings are very interesting. I have to agree with Sharkbytes that she is probably a hybrid from breeding with domestic whites. I have seen quite a few variations at our park and from the research I have done this is quite common.

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