While kayaking last weekend, several duck species were seen flying around the area, with some landing quite close to my kayak. One of the largest group of ducks in the area right now is the Blue-wing Teal (Anas discors). As I kayaked the area, one pair of Blue-wing Teal took a special liking to me, swimming very close to my kayak. In fact, when they flew in, I thought the hen was going to land on the kayak … quite a thrill to get such an up-close look!
The drake:
The hen:
The pair, swimming together:
And when they decided to move on, I was able to capture the drake lifting off the water, a great conclusion to my time with the Teals’:
And yes, I see the green on the drake’s wings, but you can see that the blue feathers outweighs the green ones. Besides, the tell-tale indicator is the white ring around face!
All images made using a Canon 7D body with a 100mm-400mm f/4.5-5.6 lens, and shot from a kayak.