mallard anas platyrhynchos

Mallard (Anas platyrhynchos) (ssp platyrhynchos)

It's Midsummer in Sweden today, perhaps the biggest cerebration of the year so Glad midsummer! to all of you.

The same nice lady from my previous post let me take the photo with her and the youngsters.

I was siting on the shore and looking at the birds on the lake. This duck not only did not run away but came closer to me found a place and started arranging the plumage. I felt obliged to take several photos.

The day was cold, windy and cloudy but the soft light made the colours of the birds look very nice. This is why I took this photo while sailing with the boat near the birds.

Now when all the lakes are frozen it is the river that shelters the birds.

During my last trip in Danube Delta I was surprised how tame most of the birds were. One example might be this mallard female. When I passed near it, with the boat, at less than five meters, the bird did not even stop preening. And this was a wild bird!

The first brood I've seen this year

I was surprised to see very many mallards along the chanels I was sailing on. Even more, despite sprinng or summer time, the birds were very friendly. With the boat I could get at several meters and take the photos. It looks to me that birds were still changing feathers and may be this was the...

Back from a great holiday in Hungary. Lots of birds and lots of my wife's relatives, many of whom I've never met before. Great people! They were all very helpful in offering useful suggestions and taking us out in their boats etc. The weather was more mixed than I'd have liked though. It's going...

Early posts today and then none till Sunday. Off to the Landsort in the archipelago where we'll be spending the night.

I've had a bit of fun photographing low-flying Mallards recently.