paradise shelduck

... which he does, in a sense. Another Paradise Shelduck - widespread, endemic, and beautiful. Sorry I haven't browsed yet. Long day of work yesterday, and then some friends dropped by for tea. Looking forward to catching up after work today.

The penguin colony was over a hill, past some fields, down to the top of some cliffs (all by shuttle bus), and then a winding path down the cliffs to some hides built into the slopes along the shore. I'll get to the penguins later, hopefully tomorrow. But before we got that far, we did pass this...

... and bigger, and bigger ... and got flashier underarms too ;) Needless to say, I quickly saw who was boss here and backed off politely.

I may have taken one baby step closer, as long as this guy was napping ... But he wasn't. Are they ever? Anyway, just a few frames after that shot of him with his head tucked in, he decided it was time to show me who was bigger ;)

And here's the male, pretending not to notice me. Next time I post, I'll show you what happened when I took a baby step closer ;) But for now, just enjoy all those vermiculations. Aren't they both beauties? Oh, and yes, endemics and lifers as well.

Not the California town that burned recently. Just that her name is Paradise Shelduck. Male and female have very different plumages.

I just had to show this pair again, the light on them was great!!!

Sorry I have been off the air for the past few days but I took a bit of a tumble Just after talking to Alex from Albany, Australia. Thanks to everyone for their kind comments.

The Mallard had to speed up to get of the way of the Paradise Shelduck.

The one at the back is the male.

This pair has taken up residents in the lagoon and are getting use to me photographing them.

The ducks are getting a hard time at the present due to the game bird shooting season. These Paradise Shelduck are said to damage farm crops.

They dark one with some white on its face is an immature one.

She has just arrived at the Te Awanga lagoon.

This pair of paradise shelducks taken at Hoopers Inlet on the Otago Peninsula near Dunedin.

A large goose-like duck with orange-chestnut undertail and tertials. The male has a black head with a greenish gloss and a dark grey finely barred black body. The female has a white head, and a bright orange-chestnut body, obscured by darker fine barring in eclipse plumage. In flight both...

A large goose-like duck with orange-chestnut undertail and tertials. The male has a black head with a greenish gloss and a dark grey finely barred black body. The female has a white head, and a bright orange-chestnut body, obscured by darker fine barring in eclipse plumage. In flight both...

A large goose-like duck with orange-chestnut undertail and tertials. The male has a black head with a greenish gloss and a dark grey finely barred black body. The female has a white head, and a bright orange-chestnut body, obscured by darker fine barring in eclipse plumage. In flight both...

A large goose-like duck with orange-chestnut undertail and tertials. The male has a black head with a greenish gloss and a dark grey finely barred black body. The female has a white head, and a bright orange-chestnut body, obscured by darker fine barring in eclipse plumage. In flight both...

A large goose-like duck with orange-chestnut undertail and tertials. The male has a black head with a greenish gloss and a dark grey finely barred black body. The female has a white head, and a bright orange-chestnut body, obscured by darker fine barring in eclipse plumage. In flight both...