is this an SLR? it looks like a phone or point n shoot

At any rate if you do have an slr, my experince taught me that anytime I have to shoot quick, open up the lens and shoot aperture priority. Assuming it's daytime, you can be reasonably sure you'll have a good exposure (if you metered correctly,) and you'll get a shallow DoF to isolate your subject against the background... Also, meter the darkest areas.. better to overexpose than the opposite.

This is just for when you have no time, and when things are fully lit- not a global rule to follow.

Also, I know it's snobby or whatever, but I really really think you should avoid any kind of cropping unless it's really necessary. in my experience, anything I never needed to crop, wasn't that great to begin with. there's a relationship between the frame and its content, and odd ratios tend to hurt it imo

Obviously that's just a guideline too. If you really want to crop go ahead.

nice lookin duck though. keep on shootin bruh