The Wood Duck Pond

During the winter months, when not skiing or hiking, I'm often found with my camera perusing the local parks and nature areas in search of interesting birds to photograph.  Although some of my feathered friends migrate, quite a few species stick around all year.

A gorgeously colored male wood duck

One of my favorite birds to photograph is the wood duck.  The males sport stunning multicolored plumage and eerie, bright red eyes.  Although wood ducks are not super common in my area, a few flocks of them are known to inhabit certain local ponds.  One, adjacent to a nearby business park, provides the most reliable source of wood duck sightings.

Looking at his reflection

One sunny January afternoon, having a few hours free, I decided to head over to the wood duck pond to see if I could spot any of these colorful waterfowl.  The pond is located in the middle of a linear greenway between several large office buildings and a local library branch.  It's a serene place to take a walk, with wide pathways linking the many small water features scattered throughout.  After taking in the huge flocks of Canada geese that always seem to overwhelm the basin next to the library, I continued along the walkway for a short distance until arriving at the wood duck pond.

More wood duck reflections

Luck was with me that day!  I immediately spotted several wood duck couples along the pond's forested shoreline.  Of course seeing me approach toting a large white lens, they all turned tail and swam in the opposite direction.

Female wood duck fishing for dinner

However, after many years of wildlife photography now under my belt, I knew if I just stood still and waited, the ducks would return.  Which is what they eventually did.  

A ducky couple

And then it was game on!  Positioning myself on a pedestrian bridge spanning one end of the pond provided a great vantage point.  One male duck in particular kept swimming into a sunny area of the pond quite close to where I stood.  The bright sunlight illuminated his iridescent feathers wonderfully as well as providing some nice reflections in the water below him.

Female wood duck in beautiful light

Although not quite as spectacularly colored, the female wood ducks are also beautiful.  Although mostly brown, their back feathers have a small bit of blue-green iridescent hues nestled in between the regular browns.  (Why is it always the male birds that get the attractive colors?)

This wood duck had some sort of food

The wood ducks get their name from their habit of nesting in tree cavities close to water.  Although some are migratory, 75% of the wood ducks in the Pacific flyway stay close to home.  In the wood duck pond that I visited on this day, the ducks here live year-round.

Ring-necked duck

After a successful photography session, I left the wood duck pond with hundreds of images on my camera's memory card.  Passing by a few more water features on the way back to my car, I captured a beautiful ring-necked duck, water droplets beading on his oily feathers, and an inquisitive golden-crowned sparrow. 

Golden crowned sparrow giving me the eye

Hope you've enjoyed these "birdy" photos from my neck of the woods!