Many of my readers may not be familiar with the different types of waterfowl that I mention in my columns so often.

Basically, there are two types of ducks. These are puddle and diving. Most of the birds here in the valley that I have hunted over the years are the puddle ducks. The most common in this area are the mallard, pintail, teal and shoveler. They generally feed in very shallow water and need only to tip their heads down to gorge themselves on the submerged seeds that are flooded.

Ken Barnes is a record setting shooter and longtime outdoorsman from Kern County. Email him at ken.barnes@aol.com with comments or column ideas.