Wild and Windy Day

I went out for a little while this morning before the wind picked up too much.  Winds have been building from the northwest all afternoon 15 to 25 mph with gusts up to 45 mph and feels like they are coming off ice.

I went out to watch the otters for a bit this morning.  They really put on a show.  I try to enjoy them while they are here as their visit is all to brief.  They swirled and played in the water, running up on the banks and sliding back in the water.  It was like watching children at play.




I was thrilled to see a Wood Duck on the pond this morning.  It has been a disappointing winter without them.  Hopefully additional will come in for nesting.  Not many brave souls out in the cold and wind this morning and the creatures responded to the quite by coming close in.









A usual visitor, the Great Blue Heron was not so skittish this morning.




The Cooper's Hawk sat nearby intently watching for an opportunistic meal.  All in all despite the weather, it was a really good morning.

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Identity Crisis of the Wood Duck

A "woody" has decided to privilege the refuge this year taking up at least temporary residence this winter. Now that I have my new scope, when the weather breaks I hope to try to attempt some close up shots. I considered going out this morning however flurries are expected today and the sky it dark and gray.

For the first several days he was there, he always swam with the mallards and tried to make advances towards some of the mallard hens who would simply not have any of that. The drake mallards being protective of their females would always break up any attempt made by the woody.

After a couple of days, a female woody came in and after about two days the pair mated then the hen disappeared. After that, "Mr. Woody" was back amongst the mallards. My friend and I laugh saying it has and identity crisis. He swims in the middle of the group like he is just one of them.

The hen has came back but the two just do not seem to group together as you would expect. Watching the other species of waterfowl on the lake, like kinds of male and female group together but rarely do the Wood Duck pair. This shot of the pair together was just before the pair mated.

A Ducky Morning

An absolutely beautiful autumn day. You could not have asked for better weather. All the creatures were out and about scurrying around for food. My friend and I walked around the park looking for something interesting to photograph. A lot of people were out bird watching and early runners trodding loudly disturbed most everything early.

My biggest thrill was on my way out. My friend mentioned about one particular duck she spotted earlier that morning. It sounded like a Wood Duck. Could it be? They are the most beautiful of all our native ducks.

We stopped in an area where the Mallards were congregating and there amongst them, one male Wood Duck. What a thrill. The only unfortunate thing was they were all in deep shade. One of two of the photo's came out okay. We discussed that on a cool morning you would think they would want to get in a sunny spot to warm.

I was a little late this morning and after talking with my friend, found when she first arrived this morning she had gotten a few shots in good lighting of the duck. My intent is to be there early in the morning and keep my fingers crossed.