F/6.3, 1/500, ISO 220.
Hooded Merganser ( Female )
What did the duck carry his schoolbooks in?
His Quackpack
Interesting Fact: The Hooded Merganser is the second-smallest of the six living species of mergansers (only the Smew of Eurasia is smaller) and is the only one restricted to North America. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Hooded_Merganser/lifehistory )
F/ 10.0, 1/320, ISO 320.
Northern Shoveler
What do you call a kid who doesn’t believe in Santa?
A rebel without a Claus.
Interesting Fact: They are often referred to as the “Spoonbill” or “Spoony” because of their unique spatulate shaped bill, which has about 110 fine projections (called lamellae) along the edges, for straining food from water. ( http://identify.whatbird.com/obj/97/overview/Northern_Shoveler.aspx )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Bufflehead Duck
Two ducks are in a pond.
One went “Quack quack!”
And the other duck said “That’s funny I was just about to say that!”
Interesting Fact: The Bufflehead nests almost exclusively in holes excavated by Northern Flickers and, on occasion, by Pileated Woodpeckers. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 250.
Ruddy Duck
How do you know that carrots are good for your eyesight?
Have you ever seen a rabbit wearing glasses?
Interesting Fact: Ruddy Ducks lay big, white, pebbly-textured eggs—the largest of all duck eggs relative to body size. Energetically expensive to produce, the eggs hatch into well-developed ducklings that require only a short period of care. ( http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck/lifehistory )
F/10.0, 1/400, ISO 250.
Bufflehead Duck
What do you call two ducks and a cow?
Quackers and Milk.
Interesting Fact: Bufflehead fossils from the late Pleistocene (about 500,000 years ago) have been found in Alaska, California, Florida, Illinois, Kansas, Texas, and Washington. One California fossil that resembles a modern Bufflehead dates to the late Pliocene, two million years ago. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Bufflehead/lifehistory )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 160.
Common Gallinule
Why did the boy tiptoe past the medicine cabinet?
He didn’t want to wake the sleeping pills!
Interesting Fact: Common Gallinules expanded their range northward during the twentieth century. They started breeding in Pennsylvania for the first time in 1904; now they breed as far north as the Maritime Provinces of Canada. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Common_Gallinule )
F/9.0, 1/320, ISO 320.
Ruddy Duck
Did you hear about the duck with a drug problem?
He was a quackhead.
Interesting Fact: The oldest Ruddy Duck on record was a male and at least 13 years, 7 months old. He was banded in British Columbia and 1951 and found in Oregon in 1964. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Ruddy_Duck )
F/8.0, 1/250, ISO 200.
Wood Duck
A really big drunk walked into a bar and, after staring for some time at the only woman seated at the bar, walked over to her and kissed her.
She jumped up and slapped him silly.
He immediately apologized and explained, “I’m sorry. I thought you were my wife. You look exactly like her.”
“Why you worthless, insufferable, wretched, no good drunk!” she screamed.
“Funny,” he muttered, “you even sound exactly like her.”
Interesting Fact: Wood Ducks seem to fare best when open water alternates with 50–75% vegetative cover that the ducks can hide and forage in. This cover can consist of downed trees, shrubs such as alder, willow, and buttonbush, as well as emergent herbaceous plants such as arrowhead and smartweeds. ( https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/lifehistory )
F/13.0, 1/500, ISO 400.
Bufflehead Duck ( Male )
What do you call a belt with a clock on it?
A waist of time.
Interesting Fact: To dive, Bufflehead compress their plumage to squeeze out air, then give a slight forward leap and plunge powerfully downward. They hold their wings tightly against their bodies underwater and use only their feet to propel themselves. ( Bufflehead Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
F/13.0, 1/640, ISO 400.
Hooded Merganser Male
Where do you take a sick boat?
To the dock.
Interesting Fact: Unlike dabbling ducks, Hooded Mergansers swim low in the water. Their legs are far back on their bodies, which helps in diving but makes them awkward on land. They take flight by running across the water, flying with fast wingbeats and never gliding until they are about to land (by skidding to a stop on the water). ( Hooded Merganser Life History, All About Birds, Cornell Lab of Ornithology )
Through Open Lens 