Unexpected Symmetry

I don't get to photograph as often as I'd like nowadays, so a simple trip to the nearby river to do so was a welcome change. Apart from shooting even more macro images—I realize my blog feed is littered with them—I came across a slew of mallards. 

Whereas the males' striking color is always gorgeous, these birds are common enough for us to if not ignore them, then take them for granted. But I'm so glad I captured a few images of their seamless gliding across the murky water, albeit with striking sun reflections matching the mallards' emerald heads, since they reveal unexpected symmetry. 

Idyll

During the rain season (which has come back with full force a month late here in the mountains), there are entire miniature ecosystems where water collects into small temporary ponds. Mallards are their most obvious inhabitants, but so are ringed plovers, countless black birds, snakes.

Feminist Ducks!

Unbeknownst to most biologists, there exists a small, but tightly organized and militant group of female mallards in North America that has been authentically inspired by second-wave human feminists. Since inception, they've tried many methods of overthrowing the oppressive patriarchy that plagues the duck society by refusing to lay eggs, claiming that the said practice is a bourgeois remnant of the past that must be discarded. They also take issue with the bright green coloring that is only available to the mallard drake arguing discrimination on the basis of gender and color.

Yet, because they cannot exactly bear their breasts in light of, well, having feathers, they ultimately opted for an older, quieter type of girl power.  After all, behind every great drake there is a hen!