Osprey
Please click on each thumbnail image of wildlife at Lake Paradise in The Villages, Florida, to see the slightly larger version of the picture. I took these photos a few days ago. Enjoy!
Drake Mallard Ducks
Great Blue Heron
Double-crested Cormorant
Mallard and Hybrid Mallard Mottled Ducks
Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the photo. Enjoy!
Hybrid Male Mallard and Florida Mottled Duck
Common Coot
Lesser Scaup Drake (male)
Black-bellied Whistling Ducks, Mottled Ducks and Mallard Ducks were all spotted at Lake Paradise near Schwartz Park and Boone Park yesterday at dusk (about 5:15pm). I am starting to see more ducks each week here. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Whistling Ducks, and Mallard Ducks were both spotted here in The Villages, FL this past Sunday. I was happy to see the Black-bellied Whistling Ducks at the marsh where I also had spotted many egrets. I also saw the Mallards there. Lake Paradise has a bunch of Mottled Ducks and Mallard Ducks right now.
Later in the Winter, there will be a lot of other breeds of migrating ducks here on our many ponds and lakes. I so enjoy watching the ducks. By the way, most of this bunch of Whistlers were juveniles with their bluish-pink bills, legs and feet! Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Grey Squirrels, Mallard Ducks, and hybrid Mallard/Florida Mottled Ducks were spotted on the little Lake Paradise in The Villages, Florida on Monday night at twilight. I am including views of the lake on the Swartz Park end which is almost totally dry to the North and rapidly shrinking again to the South. By the way, that shot that looks like a huge grassy prairie, is really the dry lake bed. Yikes!
We are still in a drought situation here. I enjoy this regional park which is reserved for residents and guests here in The Villages, Florida. There is always wildlife around us here. I have a great time bird and critter-watching. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Mallard Ducks (males)
Mallards, Black-bellied Whistlers, Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers were all visitors here at the little Lake Paradise in The Villages, FL this last two weeks. I took most of the pictures on December 11, 2016.
The Ring-necked Ducks and Hooded Mergansers are both diving ducks that eat fish, frogs, turtles, and larger aquatic insects.
The Whistlers and Mallards (also those Mottled Ducks around) eat both fish and plants. They are tipping ducks that are most often seen with their tails up and heads down in the water when feeding in the water. Mallards (and Mottled Ducks) and The Whistling Ducks seldom totally submerge. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version of the picture. Enjoy!
Hooded Mergansers
Whistlers
Ring-necked Ducks
Likely a hybrid Florida Mottled and Mallard Duck
These ducks are Florida Mottled Ducks and hybrid Mallard/Fl Mottled Ducks. I took these pictures on Sept. 7, 2016 at a small private park lake, Lake Paradise, located in The Villages, FL. I took these pictures at Swartz Park and also at Paradise Park. Many times in the late afternoon or early evening, I see ducks at the tiny Swartz Park, on the gazebo/parking lot side. By the way, there sometimes are Black-bellied Whistling Ducks (Whistlers) at that location.
Florida Mottled Ducks and Mallards both are dabbing ducks. They tip their heads down into the water while they search the shallows of lakes, streams, and ponds for various types of aquatic insects and small aquatic animals. These ducks also enjoy eating grain.
The male or drake Mottled Duck has a bright yellow bill. Both genders of the Florida Mottled Duck resemble a hen Black Duck or a hen Mallard a bit. The Florida Mottled Ducks and Mallard Ducks often will interbreed so one can see a hybrid which resembles the Mallard, but is not quite fully Mallard in looks. I always enjoy watching ducks. Please click on the thumbnail image to see the slightly larger version. Enjoy!
