Ruddy Duck

Feeds:: Posts; Comments

Ruddy Duck

February 19, 2015 by Mike Powell

As I was scanning a group of Ring-necked Ducks and Canada Geese earlier this week, I noticed a pair of ducks that looked different, very different from the others. Their colors were unusual, but what really set them apart was their tails that stood almost straight up. I think that I encountered ones like this once before, but I couldn’t remember what species they were.

Fortunately I got some decent shots and was able to find them in my identification guide when I returned home—they turned out to be a pair of Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis). The light was bright and producing a lot of glare off of the water and ice and I didn’t managed to get any good shots of the female, but here are a few images of the male.

Posted in Birds, Nature, Photography, wildlife, Winter | Tagged Alexandria VA, Canon 50D, Kingstowne, Oxyura jamaicensis, Ruddy Duck, Tamron 150-600mm telephoto | 13 Comments

13 Responses

on February 19, 2015 at 7:25 am | Reply Dan Traun

Nice tail feathers; I’ve never seen one of these before.
on February 19, 2015 at 8:01 am | Reply Victor Rakmil

The faces are great.
on February 19, 2015 at 8:12 am | Reply Boeta

Lovely, wonder what it saw looking up.
on February 19, 2015 at 9:21 am | Reply New Hampshire Garden Solutions

I think he was posing in that second shot.
on February 19, 2015 at 1:49 pm | Reply waltersanford

Did you buy the Yonguo flash you were considering? I’m thinking a little fill flash would have helped to show more detail on the duck head.
- on February 19, 2015 at 1:50 pm | Reply waltersanford
  
  Er, that should say Yongnuo. Darn predictive spelling!
  - on February 19, 2015 at 5:38 pm Mike Powell
    
    You are probably right, though I am not sure that I would get much additional fill light at 600mm unless I get a Better Beamer or something like that.(and I might have trouble holding steady without at least a monopod at the regular sync speed of 1/250 sec.)
on February 19, 2015 at 5:23 pm | Reply svtakeiteasy

Gee Mike! We are both lucky with our duck encounters!
- on February 19, 2015 at 7:10 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  We are having unusually cold weather and I may try to venture out and see if anything else unusual has stopped in to visit our area.
on February 19, 2015 at 7:00 pm | Reply Charlie@Seattle Trekker

It is always such a treat to find something new to identify.
- on February 19, 2015 at 7:09 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  New species are indeed a treat. Fortunately this one turned out to be pretty easy to identify.
on February 21, 2015 at 7:05 pm | Reply nliakos

I’ve seen hooded mergansers and buffleheads in Seneca Creek State Park so far this winter–but no ruddy ducks, which I would love to see! Nice shots.
- on February 21, 2015 at 7:50 pm | Reply Mike Powell
  
  Thanks. There was only a single pair of Ruddy Ducks in the midst of a group of Ring-necked Ducks. I’m learning that it pays attention to check out groups carefully–there may be multiple species together.