It was a cloudy and dull day so I had my ISO fairly high. However, I really like the grainy look it gave to this shot so I did not do any noise distortion!
Mallards can be found in lakes, ponds, rivers, potholes, woodland pools and surrounding uplands. They dabble for wetland vegetation, seeds, mollusks, crustaceans, insects and larvae.
From Ducks Unlimited:
Mallards are an abundant city and suburban park duck and because of constant feedings by park visitors, they can become very tame and approachable. In more natural settings and where Mallards are heavily hunted, they can be very wary of approaching people. They commonly associate with and may hybridize with other dabbling ducks. Mallards have a huge variety of displays that can be fascinating to watch and decipher. Most displays are ritualized versions of common motions: males may face off with a head-bob, threaten an aggressor with an open bill, or push against each other, breast to breast. Paired males defend their territories with vigorous acrobatic chases. Males court females by shaking or flicking the head side to side, looking over their shoulder, or raising up in the water and flapping their wings. Several males often gather around a female to display. A female encourages a male by nodding her head back and forth or paddling with her head held low.
