Saturday, November 1, 2008

Camera Critters #30

Camera Critters by Misty Dawn, go here to see who's participating.

I was at a pond a few weeks back as fall was approaching. I saw some ducks at a pond and my camera was ready to see what they would offer. When you decide to shoot you always want something interesting to occur. There were three Mallard females under a tree.

They got up and moved toward the water.
They jumped in and swam duck paddled from shore.

There was one female Mallard Duck on the other side of the tree and she stayed put. You know me, I moved in for some close-ups.
The duck finally got up and hopped toward the shore. Note; I didn't say waddled.
Anyways; what's with the wing. the duck was standing there on one foot and preening it's feathers.
I was then able to get to the other side of the duck as I walked and made a discovery of why the duck hopped. It had a deformed leg and had to go on one leg. I don't know that this was a serious problem and it could swim fine. I wonder if it can fly.
Sometimes in nature something will happen in the duck life to cause injury.

46 comments:

Unknown said...

You ALWAYS have the best Camera Critters photos. Love the blue on the ducks.

Reader Wil said...

I like ducks very much and your ducks are beautiful. The last photo is good, but does the duck has something on its back? I enlarged it, but couldn
t see it properly. Like Darla says: your CC photos are great!

Lilli & Nevada said...

Great shots of the duck and how sad about the disability of the one duck but nature also plays a good roll in how animals and humans can manage Great photos.

Tina said...

Ducks are pretty cool birds, mallards especially, they never seem to get flustered quickly..and the guys (of course) are always so pretty or should I say colorful? Your last shot is amazing. I'm hoping it can fly... but it looks like this isn't something that just happened...so I'm thinking it has been this way for a while...even at birth? He looks healthy! interesting post...thanks!

Ramblings of a Villas Girl said...

Hi FG: Ducks are amazing curious creatures. I feel bad for the last one though. Lisa

RazorFamilyFarms.com said...

Ducks make me happy! I can't help but look at them and smile! What great pictures!

Blessings!
Lacy

david mcmahon said...

Great shots, Chuck.

EG CameraGirl said...

What a great post about the ducks, FG! Very nice tour. ;-)

Michele said...

Ducks are so much fun to photograph and that last duck looks a little rough, doesn't he? I hope he'll do fine through the winter.

Tootie said...

Your photos are duckie!! :-)

Unknown said...

Ah, poor duck. Nice shots though. :)

Twisted Fencepost said...

Great pics, FG! I like the hint of blue on their wings.
I feel for the crippled one.
Makes me want to love him, hug him and call him George. Or her in this case.

Gemma Wiseman said...

The feather detail in these duck shots is just brilliant! Enjoyed this!

Ken Conger Photography said...

Nice series. Waterfowl are always fun to shoot. Blue Skies.

Anonymous said...

Amazing how the duck has gotten along well with the damaged foot. It looks as healthy as the others. Neat pics!

Willard said...

An excellent series. It is often the case that if one watches wildlife for a time rather than just spotting it and leaving, that something special occurs that is worth documenting.

Martha said...

Great shots fishing guy! Thanks for stopping by today! :-)

Unknown said...

Hey, I couldn't fill the space on my last Camera Critters post like you said, so I just went back and backspaced the empty space. Thank you!!

Mariah said...

I love mallards, especially when they are friendly

Catz said...

Great shot - don't ya just love ducks?

threesidesofcrazy said...

Nice pics - ducks are just such peaceful animals.

dot said...

Sad about the one duck but you sure got some nice pictures.

Anonymous said...

I love the ducks. Great shots.

It looks like she's doing fine, despite her disability.

A Blog In The Rough said...

awhh poory sweetie duck, I hope it's not too serious!
I love having something good happen when I'm shooting a picture, but when it's critters, it seems sometimes they do anything possible NOT to be in a good shot, like hide behind a tree and I'm not even close, lol. Thanks for the post!

Jeanne said...

Aww that poor little duck. Looks healthy otherwise so hopefully still able to do his ducky stuff. Great shots as always.

Carletta said...

Terrific shots Fishing Guy!

Thanks for coming by and seeing my 'male review' as you called it -LOL!

Rambling Woods said...

Fishing guy..You know I love ducks. The two on the outsides are males molting into their breeding colors and are the ones with a yellowish bill. The female is in the middle and she has an orange bill with a brownish pattern called a saddle. I wonder if they leg got taken by a snapping turtle...Michelle..

Misty DawnS said...

WoW! That is quite an amazing post! Nature's critters are very good at adapting when they need to. I often think we could learn a lot from them. I really, really, REALLY like this post, my friend!

Side Note - I'm trying like mad to figure out a way to 'sneak' back there for Thanksgiving. My family isn't expecting me until Christmas, so to make it there at Thanksgiving would be such a fun surprise.

Unknown said...

I feel bad for that duck.

Juliana RW said...

lovely duck series shot u have

thanks for ur visit

Gretchen said...

Those are great shots!

Sherrie said...

Hi!
Awesome photos! Thanks for stopping by my place. I didn't know Deer lay down after an eating binge. Thanks for the info. Take Care!!

Sherrie

judi/Gmj said...

Good shots, and yep, you were true to form and got some wonderful closeups of a lame duck.. sorry couldn't help myself. :D

Anonymous said...

Very interesting deformity. It seems to have adapted quite nicely.

Gattina said...

The last picture is really special !

MedaM said...

This series of duck photos is beautiful. I really enjoyed.

Cathy said...

Good series of photos. Even though the last one is sad, it's sometimes good to be reminded that all is not well out in the wild.

Cathy said...

My trigger finger was too fast. I meant to add that there was a one-legged curve-billed thrasher here on the property for about six years. The lack of a leg never seemed to slow her down, and she raised many young ones.

Norm said...

they are so lovely and wonderful...nice capture...

Louise said...

Nice photos.

The duck made it to be that big OK. It is probably fine. We have a pigeon (definitely not as interesting as ducks) that my daughter loves because it is all white except for a black "heart" on its back. It has injured a food and hops. It comes every day and eats what the finches spill and goes somewhere else. It looks pitiful sometimes, but animals are great at adapting.

Anonymous said...

Wow. I don't know that I've ever heard of a deformed bird. Poor thing! :-(

Heart of Rachel said...

Those ducks are beautiful. I feel sorry for the duck with the deformities. I hope he can still have a good life despite his condition.

me ann my camera said...

Lovely ducks!

sandyshares said...

wish we had some I just love them sandy

 gmirage said...

My kids love them!

Gina said...

Fabulous shots FG...well done! :D