A surprise ending…

Donna’s Sunday morning birding group came to visit Estabrook Park this morning, and I showed them where I have seen the winter wren recently, but it didn’t want to come out and play today. Instead, we saw a bald eagle glide over the north end, and there was a goldeneye hen on the water, but I didn’t manage to get any pictures.

Well, the group eventually had enough birding for one morning, we parted ways by the beer garden, and as I walked past the pond on my way home, look who I found floating in the sun. It’s our first wood duck of the season. Woo Hoo! He was quite shy and after I grabbed this picture from up by the parkway, he hid under the bushes that overhang the water from the island and refused to come out. Oh well. I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty more of him soon enough.

Anyway, while I was sitting on the park bench and enjoying the sun that had come out, the mallards mostly ignored me, and this drake really put on a light show with his iridescent head feathers. First, they glowed green, …

then blue, …

and finally, both blue and green at the same time!

Lastly, the goose couple were up on the lawn right in front of me, and I wonder if the female is bracing herself for the arduous 28 days of incubating she’s got in her near future.