Common Perfection

A classic portrait of a lady mallard.

She climbed ashore, shook the lake from her feathers and, as if on cue, struck her finest poses. Up close, every feather reveals its own intricate pattern, every droplet clings stubbornly to her plumage, and that unmistakable duck smile seems almost deliberate.

And that's the irony: millions of years of evolution perfected this bird, yet when we meet her by the lakeshore, most of us simply shrug and say, "Oh... a duck."

Ruskeala, Karelia, Russia.
September, 2020.
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