Thanks for visiting my Nature Photo Of The Day blog. 

Vic and I live in a beautiful, natural forest - which delivers up nature in daily doses. It is a wonderful pastime to photograph the nature around us. Being a former photojournalist, I want to add context to the photographs I post by identifying the bird or flower and sometimes adding details about what is happening. I don't "know" these tidbits - but use field guides and especially books by David Allen Sibley - to add details to my posts. Sibley's latest book - What It's Like to Be A Bird is the bird details book to have.

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Mallard courtship begins as early as November and continues through the winter. Once a pair bond forms, the male and female will stay together through Spring migration and during nests building and egg-laying stages, but the male departs when incubation begins - which is entirely up to the female.