Tuesday, April 24, 2012

Duck Fight


While photographing herons one day, I noticed some commotion on the bank and saw these fellas huddled up. It turned out they weren't talking sports or downing some cold ones. They were engaged in a bit of a duck scuffle. A little squabbling amongst the males of the species.












And what, you may ask, was the source of the tension? Why, the female of the species. Miss Thing. She was just sitting there acting innocent as if nothing was going on. The boys later continued their squabble out on the lake with Miss Thing swimming behind them apparently waiting for one of them to be declared the victor.





49 comments:

Coloring Outside the Lines said...

Thanks for the chuckles this morning - poor guys- all that fussing! That last picture is hilarious! She almost appears to be smirking.

Mary Howell Cromer said...

Your words match up with the images perfectly Brian...I too have had my first morning giggle~

CameraCruise said...

Great shots of the fighting males.

darlin said...

LOL cute! I love the clarity of your shots, so you never mentioned who won the affection of Miss Thing, was it male 1, male 2 or male 3? :-) Thanks for the chuckle, great post!

Anonymous said...

LoL.. Brian this is hilarious! I would love to have saw this fight in person, I would have been crying from laughing so hard! Who was the winner?

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the smile this morning. :-) The shots are fantastic! Love the ones with Miss Thing just calmly swimming by.

Debbie said...

but brian, have you seen what the winner does to her, not very nice, the way they mate. if i were her i would have swam off, paddled off, as quickly as possible!!

great close ups though, i do love the detail and color in the photo's......

Nancy said...

Women! Lol. Great photos, Brian.

Kathy said...

I wouldn't want to be in the middle of this one!

Jenn Jilks said...

Doncha love it?! They sure get into it, but don't draw blood, like humans!

Greetings from Cottage Country!

Linda said...

I am still smiling...what great photographs of the males doing what they do and the female pretending not to care. So true - still funny! Wonderful way to start my morning, Brian!

jeanlivingsimple said...

Goodness....cool shots of the fight!

Modesto Viegas said...

Good capture!!!

Unknown said...

Great series!! Boom & Gary of the Vermilon River, Canada.

EG CameraGirl said...

She does look innocent, doesn't she? :))

TexWisGirl said...

great...job, brian! :)

i'm rooting for miss thing. 'all the single ladies... uh oh uh oh...'

Anonymous said...

What a great sequence!

Vores have said...

Beautiful picture series you show with ducks .....
Wishing you a good evening.
Hanne Bente / hbt.finus.dk

Kenneth Cole Schneider said...

Pretty serious action!

barbara l. hale said...

I love that she just sits there and waits seemingly unconcerned. What if she doesn't really like the victor?? Terrific pics!

Tezzie said...

Oh, that's hilarious! She's so totally 'Miss Thing', waiting for the boys to settle their argument. Funny stuff...and fabulous photos. Love the colours you've captured...and that last 'all boy' photo totally cracks me up! (or, should I say..."quacks" me up!? ...haha...sorry, couldn't resist ;D)

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

Great shots of the action, Brian. I love how you do that. I've never seen this in person. Thanks for the chuckle this morning. I wonder who won.

theconstantwalker said...

Great images Brian.. They are lovely birds to watch.. I have signs on my journey to work warning that ducklings are crossing... so cute to see them heading for water.

Icy BC said...

I see why they are fighting! Such competition..

mick said...

Great photos with an interesting little piece of bird activity.

Martha Z said...

Great series of a little spring dominance play.

Carletta said...

The little Miss would be wise to ignore them all! :)
A great series Brian!

Fjällripan said...

Great series!! I cant really figure out if the males are hugging or fighting :)) Looks very funny either way :)

Springman said...

Awesome Brian, I especially like your commentary. How much about life can be summed up in a few bird pictures? Plenty!

Roan said...

LOL! Love the commentary. The pics are great. A story in pictures. Thanks for the laugh.

Anonymous said...

scanning the comments, the women are giggling and we men are ????!!!!******

nice pics

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Funny! Hope Miss Thing was pleased with the final winner.

Carole M. said...

you'd have to know that a female was involved there, "instigator"! Those guys just can't hold it together ...the odds must be worth fighting over.

Deb said...

I guess boys will be boys...but it's usually because of a girl...great post Brian

HansHB said...

A great serie of photos!
A perfect post for WBW!
Happy World Bird Wednesday to you!

Bob Bushell said...

Who is the winner???????

Kerri Farley said...

GREAT Series!

Stewart M said...

Hi - great set of pictures - all they need is a few flying feathers!
And that last image is a classic.

Stewart M - Australia

A Colorful World said...

Ah, spring! :-) There's a lot of that going on right now. Cute post.

Your comment on the Ivory-Bill was appreciated. I am halfway through the book and loving it. So interesting!

Gillian Olson said...

Great pictures, your have captured the beautiful irridescent colours really well. Well what a lucky girl with three fellas squabbling over her!

Monica S Engell said...

I think I can see her smiling a little bit...? Great captured!
:)

Connie Smiley said...

Amazing captures, Brian! We have some wood ducks on our pond this year, and even some babies, but we can't get anywhere near them. What's your secret?

Ida said...

Ahhh spring when a young man (or young duck's fancy turns to love!

Great shots, the 5th one down cracks me up. - Miss Thing was certainly a popular girl!

Andrea @ From The Sol said...

It doesn't take much to figure out what they were scuffling about as her pretty little self sits on the side lines. Great Pictures,Brian. I really enjoy your photography.

Andrea @ From The Sol

Tammy said...

And the Mallards usually seem so tame! Great captures of the action!!

Larry said...

Hilarious post Brian and excellent shots of the drakes squabbling! I have seen skirmishes in the water but never seen one on land like this between the boys. Isn't she coy?

gtyyup said...

Wonderful series!! I love it when something out of the ordinary just presents itself to you...lucky timing!!

Kranky Granny said...

Never seen ducks this color. Love those fighting shots.

penny said...

Love their colorful male egos in action and all for plain jane Miss.
cheers