Last Sunday, I had so much fun with the Mergansers in the Platte River, so I decided to post images of the other ducks separately. There were several Goldeneye ducks in the river, so I had the opportunity to make several images. I chose this image because of the expression and open mouth of this male bird.
One of the Goldeneyes decided to fly up-stream to another location. I was lucky enough to see him take flight. This is one of the in-flight images from a burst of several. I was pleased that there is a reflection of the duck in the water.
The Mallards were also busy in the river. This female bird spent much of the time preening her plumage and exercising her wings.
I headed down-stream, where earlier I had spotted another group of ducks. Here I found this pair of Mallards resting on the rock. In the background was a Male Goldeneye cruising past.
At another nearby rock, an American Coot and Mallard, were perched. I had not seen this pairing on a small piece of real estate — the Mallard left the rock a few minutes later.
In the meantime, that Male Goldeneye was busy cruising along the river behind the Coot’s rock.
Here is another image of the same Goldeneye, cruising back and forth.
Later, I moved to another location along the Platte River, closer to C-470. After arriving, I noticed this Belted Kingfisher. This has been the closest that got to these skittish birds.
The Kingfisher was watching for prey above a pool in the water, where several different ducks were busy feeding. Here is a pair of American Wigeons busy paddling in search of food.
At the bridge where C-470 crosses the river, I found these two ducks up-ended in the water.
Two male Mallards were the usual suspects.
Returning back towards the parking lot, I was close to the Kingfisher’s pool. Here I found this “Gang of Four” Ring-Necked Ducks.
That concluded the images from an enjoyable birding outing to the Platte River.