Lake Ontario at Newcastle, Ontario
It may be winter but many ducks and geese have decided to NOT fly south for warmer weather.
I have several books for identifying birds as I am a novice birder. The one I find myself referring to the most often is Ontario Birds by Jeffrey C. Domm. I like it because it contains birds known to found in Ontario, making it easier to find an illustration to identify it. Plus an observation calendar accompanies each bird's description. According to the observation calendars for mallards and Canada geese show that both birds can be found in Ontario year-round.
And now a question:
I think this is a female mallard but what do YOU think? It was hanging out with mallards but is quite a bit lighter in colour than the rest of the females.
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16 comments:
I think it is a female mallard too, but I am not an expert in birding!
I think she's a lady mallard as well. Lovely mosaic of the different birds. The mallard's green head is fantastic!
I think she's a female mallard. Mallards (both male and female) can be quite varied in colour as they can breed with other species!).
This non-expert also says female mallard. It seems to be within the normal variations.
Sure it is a mallard.
I have some different looking ones on my birdblog. If you want to check them out follow this link:
http://nfbird.blogspot.com/2010/12/grasand-anas-platyrhynchos-mallard.html
Nice compilation of the ducks. :)
What a great collection of water fowl! Wonderful collage as usual! I just bought a Finnish glass bird for my office
I have no idea what type of duck that is, but I love the other ducks bright legs. :)
Oh and the surfing picture below....who knew you could surf on a lake?
I also think your mystery bird is a female mallard. You did a real nice job with this mosaic.
Wow! Love that shot of the male mallard up close, they sure are pretty!
They are all so pretty. I think that is a female mallard, but not 100%.
I would also say female mallard. I saw a very light-coloured, almost white female mallard this year, who for some reason raised her chicks together with a male and another female. The chicks were all of the normal, dark colouring.
I think it looks like a light feathered female mallard. I've never seen one with feathers that light. I have several bird books but none specific to where I live. That's a good resource to have one specific to your area.
The mallards are supposed to be in Florida. I don't know where the Canadian geese are supposed to be but we've got 'em here (a few) in Ocala!
A "bottle blonde" female mallard...
;-D
Oh you know I love my ducks! That does look like a female mallard and they do vary in colors to a degree. I think you chose a good book. I found one on NY when I started and I still consider myself new compared to some of the birders on an e-mail list who have 50 years experience... Michelle
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