ML511221451

Age

Not specified

Sex

Not specified

Observation details

This duck was near sign post #3 on Black Point Drive. It was in a flock that contained ring-necked ducks, redheads, one canvasback, one female scaup and coots. The duck was a male. It was feeding with the other divers but it only tipped up like puddle ducks do. It never dove but all the other divers did. It looked, in size and shape, very much like a mallard. However, as the photos show, it had many ring-necked duck traits. The iris was yellow. The feet were yellow. The bill was white at the base, transitioning to gray, then white again and black at the nail. The head was iridescent purple. The chest was dark chestnut color as in a drake mallard. There was white in the tail feathers, as in a mallard, whereas ring-necked duck tails are all black. The ducks back was dark but resemble a mallard more than a ring-necked duck. I observed the duck at about 45 yards for more than 25 minutes with the naked eye, binoculars and a spotting scope. Several times, the sun shown through the clouds and the colors described above were even more prominent. The photographs were taken by David Sparks.

Technical information

Model

OM-1

Lens

OLYMPUS M.150-400mm F4.5 TC

ISO

1000

Focal length

473 mm

Flash

Flash did not fire

f-stop

f/5.6

Shutter speed

1/800 sec

Dimensions

1600 pixels x 1200 pixels

Original file size

822.09 KB