Anne Elliott's photos with the keyword: Mandarin Duck

Seen at the Zoo, as we don't get these gorgeous ducks in the wild here. "The Mandarin Duck (Aix galericulata), or just Mandarin, is a medium-sized perching duck, closely related to the North American Wood Duck. It is 41-49 cm long with a 65-75 cm wingspan. The adult male is a striking and unmistakable bird. It has a red bill, large white crescent above the eye and reddish face and "whiskers". The breast is purple with two vertical white bars, and the flanks ruddy, with two orange "sails" at the back. The female is similar to a female Wood Duck, with a white eye-ring and stripe running back from the eye, but is paler below, has a small white flank stripe, and a pale tip to its bill. The Mandarin Duck symbol is also used in Chinese weddings, because in traditional Chinese lore they symbolize wedded bliss and fidelity." From Wikipedia.

..... who is the fairest of them all? One enclosure at the Calgary Zoo has a boardwalk over water and I love seeing the Mandarin Ducks, Herons, and so on. When I was there yesterday, I watched the pair of Black-crowned Night-herons change place on their nest. The one that left the nest flew and perched on the fence about three feet away from me. Can't imagine how much fun it will be when they have their young ones! I had only ever seen a handful of these birds before, in the wild, and always at a very great distance, so it was great seeing them at such close quarters yesterday. This is rather a "messy" photo, but I just liked seeing the two birds together for a moment.