Today is supposed to be a banding day, but I'm hearing a lot of raindrops on the roof as a I type. It's been that kind of a year. Lots of rain, not so many hawks. If only I were a waterfowl bander...
Cinnamon Teal... the other kind of red shoulder.
Looking for photos this morning pointed out something to me: I guess I kinda take ducks for granted. I mean, I take a lot of photos of them, but I don't ever actually get around to renaming the files so that I can find them easily, nor do I create folders for them in my bird pix files.
Wood Ducks in early morning mist during the Christmas Count last year.
So why take them for granted? I mean, they're nice birds. Some of them are really striking birds, like the wood ducks. Others are rather elegant like the gadwall and cinnamon teal and pintails. Some are rather comical in appearance, like shovelers. And yet, at the end of a day of birding, it's rarely the ducks that stand out.
Northern Pintail - it really is a sharp duck
Sure, rare ducks turn up pretty regularly here - Eurasian wigeon and teal, tufted duck, even a baikal teal in Lompoc a few years back.
How about some geese for good measure, since I'm running short of ducks? Here are some snow geese with a "blue" goose in the mix (and a pintail to boost the duck content).
Okay, well... I've got project now. Find the duck photos (I know they're here) and start renaming them so I can find them in the future. Start giving ducks the respect they're due.
Brant could kinda pass as really big ducks, right?
While the coffee is brewing, I'll see if I can find a few more - I know there a pix of some mergansers, and that Baikal teal for sure... but where? And if you have any to add to the mix....