Usually this time of year the Sacramento NWR is dominated by Snow Geese, so we were surprised at how few we saw on our visit. Luckily, there were still thousands of birds there. So, Northern Pintails and Greater White-Fronted Geese took front stage on this visit. This is my favorite shots of the two together.
I’m not about to claim that a particular duck’s plumage is more beautiful than all other ducks’ plumage, but the male Northern Pintail surely strikes me as the most elegant.
The Greater White-fronted Goose’s plumage, on the other hand, is delightfully understated.
I guess when you are as big and powerful as they are, especially when they take flight
that they don’t have to rely on fancy feathers to attract a mate.