Friday, December 19, 2008

I'd say they're ducks

If it looks like a duck, and quacks like a duck, we have at least to consider the possibility that we have a small aquatic bird of the family anatidae on our hands.
--Douglas Adams (1952-2001) British comic Writer

Can anyone help identify these ducks for us? I have a bird book, but after flipping through the dozens of pages with geese and ducks, I quickly learned that I've got a lot to learn when it comes to identifying birds. And tonight I'm too tired to get started. This is similar to a photo of what I think are the same white ducks I took a year ago at Fishery Park in Erwin, TN. They're like old friends now -- it's just that I can't remember their names.

For this photo I used a customized white balance to bring out the blue in the water. It's amazing what you can accomplish with the white balance setting -- if you're in the habit of leaving your camera on "auto white balance", you really need to experiment and get creative with this setting! After cropping the photo, I used the Topaz Simplify filter in Photoshop to soften the image and bring out the color and forms.

4 comments:

  1. I think it's a Pekin duck. The kind one usually finds in the meat department, and are particularly delicious.
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pekin_duck

    Maybe they escaped from a nearby farm?

    Mike

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  2. Thanks for the help with the identification. No wonder I couldn't find it -- it's not in my "Complete Birds of North America" book!

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  3. Hay Mark,
    According to my birding friends in Ca, where we are now they "city park ducks". In other words their parents were fooling around.
    Great pixs as always!
    Susan

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