Ducks! Ducks! Ducks!

Ducks are a beginning birder's best friends. They are colourful and pretty. You can learn binoculars skills and how to photograph them because they won't fly away. After all, they are sitting ducks!

Ringed Neck Ducks (Duxbury, MA)

Male Northern Shoveller (Central Park, NYC) 

His wife, female Northern Shoveller

Female ruddy duck (Fresh Pond, Cambridge)

Her husband, male ruddy duck (Central Park, NYC)

 

Bufflehead husband and wife (Central Park, NYC)



American Coot (Duxbury, MA)

American wigeon (Plum Island, MA)



Green winged Teal (Plum island, MA)



Male wood duck (Muddy River, Brookline, MA)

His wife, female wood duck (Muddy Pond, MA)

 And my all-time fav........ (*drum roll*)

Female Hooded Mergenser

Her husband Hooded Merganser (Fresh Pond, Cambridge)

Husband & wife team having a great time!

Great Adventures at the..... POND!!??!!

When I first went birding at Leverett Pond, I noticed that the ducks kept swimming away. Even though they were far away from me, whenever I moved nearer, they would turn in the opposite direction. Dad tried hiding in the bushes and creeping towards them. But they were far too clever for him! They saw him a mile away!! We only managed to take pictures of their backs.

We finally decided that ducks had fantastic eyesight and could spot humans a great distance away. We only saw them properly with a pair of binoculars. It was great when dad got a spotting scope. Then, we really saw them!  

 Sis & I birding at Jamaica Pond

Male hooded meganser (weird but beautiful! My fav duck :))