One of my favorite kinds of birds to watch and photograph are ducks. Ducks while all being similar come in such a wide array of shapes sizes and colors. They have different behaviors and live in different habitats.

There are so many things to enjoy about ducks. I like them because they are a size that is relatively easy to spot with the naked eye. So you can find them watch them and in many cases identify them without a lot of work.

Ducks can be found in and around almost any body of water. Oceans, Lakes, Ponds, and Rivers included. All sizes and varieties of wetlands and habitats.

Find ducks everywhere

I love that where I live we have a nice local park that if you looked at it you wouldn’t say it was anything special, but it is a great place to go for a walk and watch birds. There are always Mallards around. They nest nearby and have their babies at the park. This park is also a good spot to watch for migratory birds early in the spring.

And if I want to have a chance to not only see common ducks, but ducks that I don’t normally see where I live or that only migrate through our area on their way to nesting grounds, There is a beautiful National Wildlife Refuge not too far away that I can drive to. It is a rare occurrence that I visit Montezuma NWR and I am not treated with some cool birding sights.

Practicing my photography with the local birds is always a good time. If you have a local park where the Mallards like to hang out I encourage you to go to the park and spend time hanging out with the Mallards and photographing them. At a park the ducks are likely to be more accustomed to people and will likely come closer to you and sit still more for photographs. And Mallards, both male and female, are beautiful birds well worth creating images of.

I love working with the Mallards. Trying to capture different aspects of their behaviors. Watching them for the perfect light to try and create a portrait style image. There is just so much that can be done at a local park with a common bird.

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