Just a common black duck

[DanK]

Just a black duck, a very common species in the north woods here. Very closely related to mallards, with which they sometimes interbreed. Easy to approach, with some patience. However, I'd never caught one expelling water after grabbing food. C&C welcome, of course.

[bnnrcn]

Great shot Dan, very nice details, good exposure , lovely colors and composition

[John 2]

Interesting shot Dan. I suppose they must lose some of the water as they feed but it's not something I have seen before. If you had asked me I would have said that this was a female Mallard. I had never heard of a close relative. I wonder if we have them over here?

[Shadowman]

Nice shot.

[Geoff F]

Good clear head and shoulders portrait.

[Mike Buckley]

Wonderful environmental portrait

[DanK]

Thanks, all. Where I spend part of the summer, these are so common--we have only two species of ducks there, this one and common mergansers--that I rarely try to get a photo, but this one was close by, and I decided it would be fun to try. The angle of the light just happened to be good for reflections.