Your female mallards in New Zealand have green heads? Like the opposite rotation of water down a drain, your southern hemisphere from my northern one, the green head on your female mallard is exactly the opposite as our mallards... the green head belonging to our males. Interesting. You must have been using a long lens... most mallards I've come across will allow a human to approach only so close before taking off.
If you've ever wanted to make a difference but found it hard to believe that one person could... check out the Kiva Team Caedes discussion thread and discover that anything is possible.
The term "sitting duck" here applies not the presence of danger but the presence of the photographer who is about to make this lovely duck famous. Good one Lyn.
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