It’s a little ironic that I took these photos of a Ring-necked Duck (Aythya collaris), some of my best duck photos, in a man-made pond in my neighborhood, rather than in a more natural setting. I have never seen any Ring-necked Ducks at my marshland park—perhaps the water is not deep enough for these diving ducks—but found them in a very suburban setting.
The light was bright on the day when I watched some of these ducks diving and resurfacing every couple of minutes. The glare was pretty intense on some of my initial photos and I didn’t like the way they turned out.
However, there is a walking trail all of the way around the pond, so I went off in search of a better lighting situation. When I reached an area of open shade, I encountered this duck near the shore. Unlike his fellow ducks, he seemed to be relaxing and was remarkably cooperative in letting me take his portrait.
If you are like most people, you may wonder why this duck is not called a ring-billed duck, because there doesn’t seem to be any ring around his neck. According to the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the bird’s name refers to the hard-to-see chestnut collar on its black neck, which apparently jumped out to the nineteenth century biologists that described the species using dead specimens.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved
Mike Powell 
Perhaps those nineteenth century biologists were too fond of ‘wringing necks?’ Your photos are gorgeous as always, by the way…
Nice. I love playing with words too.
I love how the small waves of waters look like!!
And the ducks are nice.
Thanks, Cornel.
Some of these little guys have been hanging out with our domesticated ducks at our pond. They fly off and circle around when we show up and settle back in when we leave. They are so much smaller than our pet ducks.