Mallards in Toronto

I took this picture of a pair of mallards yesterday afternoon.I could not get closer to get a picture worth showing at a higher resolution.

These are the same species as the wild ducks in an earlier post, but the coloration seems to be more intense. Both the male and the fame have much darker colors. The fine pattern on the female’s plumage is more pronounced. Perhaps it is the difference between the North American vs. European population or they just look different in different seasons.

Here is a better picture taken in the summer (06/July/2014) at a different location.