An Odd Mallard Pair
p.1 #1An Odd Mallard Pair
I live a couple miles from a nice refuge where hundreds of species of birds can be seen over a year's time. But on a fairly busy rural road where I live, without much water around, there are certainly no ducks ever...
...Yet for the 4th year in a row, one pair of mallards visit briefly along a short stretch of the road, taking advantage of a small ditch located just off the road's edge. Frequently they feed literally where grass yields to pavement. Even dogs being walked don't faze them much. They appear around this time and stay for a few weeks until there is no more water. Then gone!
The last couple days they were on both sides of the road where I live, giving me a nice chance to practice with a new lens and a cheap 2X Vitrox TC I bought.
Photo# 1 I caught them sauntering along all clean and "dressed up"
Photo# 2 they waddled across the street into shade for a spell
Photos# 3 & 4 they are back to other side and in the ditch at road's edge
Photo# 5 I caught the male "drooling" some mud!
Nikon Z8 and 24-120 and 100-400 lenses + Viltrox 2.0 TC
210mm DX mode f5 1/500 ISO 800
180mm DX mode f4.5 1/500 ISO 800
330mm DX mode f5 1/500 ISO 800
410mm FX mode f11 1/2000 ISO 1800
800mm FX mode f11 1/2000 ISO 2000
...Yet for the 4th year in a row, one pair of mallards visit briefly along a short stretch of the road, taking advantage of a small ditch located just off the road's edge. Frequently they feed literally where grass yields to pavement. Even dogs being walked don't faze them much. They appear around this time and stay for a few weeks until there is no more water. Then gone!
The last couple days they were on both sides of the road where I live, giving me a nice chance to practice with a new lens and a cheap 2X Vitrox TC I bought.
Photo# 1 I caught them sauntering along all clean and "dressed up"
Photo# 2 they waddled across the street into shade for a spell
Photos# 3 & 4 they are back to other side and in the ditch at road's edge
Photo# 5 I caught the male "drooling" some mud!
Nikon Z8 and 24-120 and 100-400 lenses + Viltrox 2.0 TC
210mm DX mode f5 1/500 ISO 800
180mm DX mode f4.5 1/500 ISO 800
330mm DX mode f5 1/500 ISO 800
410mm FX mode f11 1/2000 ISO 1800
800mm FX mode f11 1/2000 ISO 2000
Apr 17, 2026 at 06:12 PM
p.1 #3An Odd Mallard Pair
Thank you, Morris. I agree that it seems likely, given they are seen spending all day along the road, that there is some nesting habitat nearby. Yet they totally disappear from here as their little ditch playground drys up. It's an interesting mystery story more than photographically "exciting", I admit.
I'll confess I was hoping I'd see some comments regarding the cheap Viltrox 2.0 TC I used in two of the exposures. I have read that the 100-400 doesn't do well with them, but on posts on a Nikon thread, particularly of a hummingbird, I've been impressed with the ability to have 800mm or 1200 in DX in a pinch and have it be at least "decent"!
Dave
I'll confess I was hoping I'd see some comments regarding the cheap Viltrox 2.0 TC I used in two of the exposures. I have read that the 100-400 doesn't do well with them, but on posts on a Nikon thread, particularly of a hummingbird, I've been impressed with the ability to have 800mm or 1200 in DX in a pinch and have it be at least "decent"!
Dave
Apr 18, 2026 at 11:15 AM