wood duck

Wood Duck pair

In the large freeze we had this winter there were about 70 ducks coming to our creek everyday for a week, because all of the ponds that they are normally on where froze. https://macaulaylibrary.org/asset/308172371

A wood duck couple was spotted mingling with some mallards

One of the most colorful waterfowl In North America.

One of the most colorful waterfowl In North America.

One of the most colorful waterfowl In North America.

Simply a stunner of a bird. I traveled to a wetlands a bit farther north and west of my usual spots this weekend specifically to see this duck, as they had bred there in pretty good numbers last year and I was hoping they'd be back again this year. They are!

From my morning walk today

Part of a small flock, this is a male. One of the more colorful but wary North American endemic ducks, I like the way the iridescent violet color glows on the chest and flanks in this photo. They prefer wooded swamps where they often hide in deep shade as seen here. Virtually extirpated in our...

Wood Ducks (Aix sponsa) Male and female.

A drake showing full colors

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) male.

Canard carolin - Aix sponsa - Wood Duck

Only the second time in 10 years one has nested in box by small pond and raised chicks on the pond. The first time was May 2010 and was a featured shot in Wild Bird magazine some of you will remember the magazine.

I hid along the bank, and was treated to this spectacle. Was hoping for multiple species, but I will take what I can get.

Run awayyyy!!! Silly Wood Ducks! No way I could have come coser to them out in the water.

Mallards trained him not to fly away from humans

He was sticking close to this lady

I think mallards adopted him

Lonely wood duck w/a group of Mallards at Wahweap Marina, Lake Powell, AZ. This is the 2nd year we saw him, in early 2018. The first time he was smaller and being heckled by the older mallards. He would retaliate by grasping the wing or tail feathers of a female with his beak and get dragged...

They were very friendly in letting me get close!

School picture day!

I named the subsequent chicks of this wood duck pair; Valentine, Easter, Thanks Giving and Christmas. Watching them cross the street from the creek habitat was both amusing and daunting. My street is very busy. But, they would wait for a pause in the traffic to commence their journey, the chicks...

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) Ducklings. Trinity Park, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA. Fort Worth Prairie within the Cross Timbers and Prairies Vegetational Area. An elongated pond in a manicured park along the west bank of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River with some natural areas at ca. 168...

Wood Duck (Aix sponsa) Male, species sexually dimorphic. Trinity Park, Fort Worth, Tarrant County, Texas, USA. Fort Worth Prairie within the Cross Timbers and Prairies Vegetational Area. An elongated pond in a manicured park along the west bank of the Clear Fork of the Trinity River with some...