Mike Powell

There is something really elegant about male Northern Pintail ducks (Anas acuta). Some other ducks are more flashy and colorful, but the beautiful combination of grays, browns, and white give the Northern Pintails a more refined beauty that is emphasized by their long white neck stripe and very long, pointed tails.

I don’t see Northern Pintails very often, because they prefer the kind of shallow wetland that is not common at my usual stomping grounds. Recently, however, I spotted a solitary male Northern Pintail amidst a group of Mallard couples a the edge of a reed-filled creek at Occoquan Bay National Wildlife Refuge. The pintail mostly stayed in the shadows, but occasionally swam into the light, allowing me to capture a couple of images.

I really like the minimal palette of earth-tone colors in these two images. The texture in the background and in the ripples in the water help to add some additional visual interest without distracting a viewer’s eyes.

© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.