Readers’ wildlife photos

November 14, 2018 • 9:31 am

I’m BAAACK! Thanks to Grania for filling it with some great Hilis (and other posts) in my absence.

We’re returning to our regular readers’ wildlife feature, and I have a reasonable backlog to tide us over. We’ll begin with some doings on Stephen Barnard’s property in Idaho; winter is coming on and it’s migration season, most notably for MALLARDS (Anas platyrhynchos). Here is his latest batch of photos; Stephen’s notes are indented:

I’ve been trying to capture the phenomenal number of mallards migrating through, but I can’t do it justice. There are several hundred visible in the creek this morning (seen from inside my house through windows). At times there have been several thousand in my 1/2 mile stretch of the creek, or resting and feeding in the barley fields, or flying in vast flocks, in starling-like mumurations, seeming for the joy of it. There’s a lot of pair-bonding going on, with the head-bobbing ritual and aggression between pairs. The large, crowded flocks in the creek are very noisy in a squabbling kind of way. Because they’re hunted intensively, they’ll flush at first sight of a person on foot.

JAC: I especially llove the photo below. I wonder if these guys are heading towards a certain Chicago duck who’s rumored to be a great mom.

JAC: When I see photos like this, with hundreds of duck feeding on leftover grain, I have a strong temptation to go there, cover my body with barley, and lie there until I’m covered with ducks. But these ones are easily spooked, so it probably wouldn’t work.

 

Deets and Hitch playing chase. It’s just a game.

The bull elk [Cervus canadensis] is the winner in the herd that inhabits my place.


I think the rabbit is a desert cottontail (Sylvilagus audubonii). He’d better beware of Cecil, the stray cat.

And one more displaying mallard photo, which Stephen titles “Check out my speculum!” I’m pretty sure they do this to impress the hens. I think they do, but I still think James is prettier than this drake (for one thing, his bill is a brighter yellow). 

11 thoughts on “Readers’ wildlife photos”

  2. Just an end of year comment to thank all of the photographers here. They are all very much appreciated and enjoyed, even if we don’t comment on them much.

  5. I don’t think I’ve seen such a conglomeration of mallards. Certain species of geese, for sure, but never ducks. The three drakes flying in unison is marvelous.

  6. Terrific shots. I don’t see many mallards here on the Snake River. A few dozen at a time through September. I think they’re all on a more easterly corridor.
    Deets sure knows how to handle cornering.

  7. Beautiful pictures, Stephen! I really like how the light fairly glows from the green feathers in your pictures.
    Just now had an amusing image of PCC(E) being followed by a herd of 100s of ducks.

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