I spend quite a bit of time photographing birds and find ducks especially fascinating. Favorite subjects include Wood Ducks on Lake Washington, or wherever I can find them. I recently took these shots at Juanita Beach Park in Kirkland, WA. This park and nearby Juanita Bay Park are two places where you can reliably photograph Wood Ducks on Lake Washington.

Male Wood Ducks have amazing colors that make them impossible to pass up when you have a camera in hand. They are often dabbling in the shallow waters near shore. This makes it easier to get closeup shots than it is to get shots of ducks that stay further out from the shore.

The duck in the photo above decided to leave the lake and explore a pile of vegetation that had washed up on the shore. He’s getting ready to climb up on the pile and look for some lunch and didn’t mind me being in the area as long as I didn’t get too close.

You can learn more about Wood Ducks at Cornell Lab’s “All About Birds” website.