Plumed whistling ducks

Plumed whistling duck
A plumed whistling duck resting beside a small urban pond reflecting the fresh spring leaves of trees on the other side. Taken with a Canon 1D Mark IV, EF600mm f/4L IS USM + 1.4x TC, 1/500 s exposure at f10, ISO 400.

The latest additions to my website are a few images of plumed (grass) whistling ducks (Dendrocygna eytoni)—rare vagrants to New Zealand from Australia. Three of these stunning little ducks were discovered in a city park in Napier, and reported on BirdingNZ.net, and as soon as I could I was off to try to catch up with them. In Australia they feed on grasses and legumes near wetlands, and these birds in Napier seemed quite happy grazing the mown lawn of a urban park.