A Mallard hen watches three of her ducklings bob for water plants in the pond at the Fleetwood Park.

Shot with a Nikon SB900 flash in TTL mode mounted on camera with a Gary Fong Universal Lightsphere with 1/2 cloud dome diffuser.

A Mallard hen guides her new ducklings uphill from the creek to the pond at the Fleetwood Park. I spotted three hens today all with similarly sized families of ducklings. I went to check on the breeding pair of Mute Swans at Spring Ridge and apparently they did not breed this year. I wonder if the incessant rains had something to do with it.

Shot with a Nikon SB900 flash in TTL mode mounted on camera with a Gary Fong Universal Lightsphere with 1/2 cloud dome diffuser.

While photographing Mallard Ducks at the Fleetwood Park Pond today, I saw a shadow fly overhead and when I looked up, this Turkey Vulture was circling. He made about a dozen circuits overhead before he was convinced that I was not yet dead and then he headed on down the length of the park following the creek. On a cold day like today, even a Vulture is a welcomed sign of life.

For more information on Turkey Vultures, visit this page.

Thanks to Distrssed Jewell for the use of her texture, A bird in my sky.

I spent some time today with my Mallard friends at the Fleetwood Park pond. I needed to work on my flight shots with the new D7000 and try and get my settings and timing all working. The Mallards are always willing subjects. I counted 54 of them at the park today but no sign of “Quackers” the lone white domestic duck that has lived at the pond for several years and no sign of my buddy “Stumpy” the Mallard with one foot. I’d like to think they are still with us and maybe just exploring the creek today instead of the pond area. They have a thawed out section of the pond probably 40 feet across and some access to food in the form of patches of grass. With warmer temperatures being called for next week, we should see all the ice and snow melt by the end of February. I don’t know who is looking forward to all that melting more, me or the Ducks.

A Mallard Drake gives me a nice profile opportunity at the Fleetwood Park pond back on 1-24-2009. If you need a good laugh and love animals, check out this video on YouTube.

Canada Goose Gosling at Fleetwood Park back on 5-20-2009. We usually have a few Canada Geese at the park but they are normally transient so when I saw that a mating pair had chosen to raise their Goslings at the park, it was a real treat.

For more information about Canada Geese, visit this page at the Cornell Lab Of Ornithology.

A Mallard Drake arrives back at the Fleetwood pond after some vigorous in-flight pursuits of a Mallard Hen. Sadly, he did not get his girl. We had some nice soft, golden late afternoon light back on 4/30/2010 when I shot this.

Eight Mallard Ducklings take a swim in the pond at the Fleetwood Park. I’m hoping that there are more ducklings in the area since only three hens were hanging around and there is normally a steady population of around 28 hens at the park. At this point in the year, the drakes are very aggressive and don’t seem to want to let go of the fact that mating season has passed. This drives away a lot of the hens and their offspring until mid-May when everything seems to settle down again.

Mallard drake sits on the edge of the ice on the pond at the Fleetwood Park.

Thanks to flickr member pareerica for the use of the texture.

The best Mothers let you take chances and just “dive in” but are always there to catch you when you fall…

The best Mothers will ward off bullies and keep you safe…

The best Mother is the one you already have.  Cherrish her always !