Readers’ wildlife photos

Send in your good photos, please! I will of course ask again.

Today’s contributor is Joe Dickinson, who presents us with photos of my beloved waterfowl. His comments are indented, and you can enlarge the photos by clicking on them.

Here is a collection of unusual ducks (even some faux ducks?) from my usual walk down by Rio del Mar/Seacliff in Aptos, CA.

Surf Scoters (Melanitta perspicillata) have a striking sexual dimorphism in bill shape as well as color.

This is probably an adult female common merganser (Mergus merganser) although immature/non-breeding males are pretty similar.

I’m pretty sure this is an adult female common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula).

And I’ll add a singleton photo that Joe sent on December 31:

Here is a contribution to your faux ducks series.  They are, of course, mute swans (Cygnus olor), an Old World species that has been introduced and is now widely distributed in North America.