Blue, Blue, My Love is Blue-Winged Teal
Male blue-winged teal flaunting his blue
Yeah, it’s an old song but I couldn’t help it. My two favorite bird photography sites are in Boynton Beach, Florida – Wakodahatchee and Green Cay Wetlands. Both are reclaimed wetlands and have attracted an amazing bounty of birds and reptiles – most close enough for a decent 400mm photograph.
I was fortunate to be able to return this January for images with my Nikon D600, but there are also images here from 2008. You see, I used to travel South to do art shows in the winter, and stayed with another artist friend there. I am still amazed that this highly developed area, with hundreds of gated communities and a block of shops on nearly every corner (or so it seems), is so hospitable to wildlife. Today I am highlighting the blue-winged teal.
The males are handsome birds, and they show off their namesake blue wings when preening.
Male and female blue-winged teal
As you can see, the females also have their gorgeous “shoulders” decorated in powder blue. I’m not sure of the reason why these gorgeous epaulets need to be hidden most of the time.
In the right light, you can also see the iridescent green feathers underneath. As a side note, iridescent feathers do not actually possess color, but reflect a portion of the color spectrum.
Maybe Frank Sinatra’s world was blue because of lost love, but for these birds, blue is just lovely.
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Website: CindyMcIntyre.com
Online gallery: Smugmug and Fine Art America
These photographs on Smugmug
Original hand-painted BW photographs for sale: Etsy
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Contact: cindy at cindymcintyre.com
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John Wilder said,
April 6, 2014 at 10:43 am
Wonderful shots
DesertAbba said,
April 7, 2014 at 6:28 am
Great shots, as we have all become accustomed to. But how do you get the ducks to pose to display their wings 😉
Jet Eliot said,
April 10, 2014 at 5:21 pm
A lovely bird, indeed, and lovely photos too. Blue-winged teals are not so easy to find, either…very nice.