Colourful pair of Wood Ducks / Aix sponsa

This photo was taken a couple of days ago, on 26 September 2015. In the morning, I joined a group of friends for a three-hour stroll at Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. The temperature was between 8C and 13C and it was overcast until we were about to leave, when the sun finally struggled out from behind the clouds. I had been meaning to get over to the Sanctuary, but just hadn't had the time, so thought this trip would get me out there. The fall colours and reflections are always beautiful, though the sun would have helped.

I think the highlight for me was seeing this pair of gorgeous Wood Ducks, Usually I see them far, far away, but this pair was reasonably close.

"The Wood Duck is one of the most stunningly pretty of all waterfowl. Males are iridescent chestnut and green, with ornate patterns on nearly every feather; the elegant females have a distinctive profile and delicate white pattern around the eye. These birds live in wooded swamps, where they nest in holes in trees or in nest boxes put up around lake margins. They are one of the few duck species equipped with strong claws that can grip bark and perch on branches." From AllABoutBirds.

www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Wood_Duck/id

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wood_duck

I will add Janet and Bernie's list from our walk, with thanks for a very enjoyable morning!

1. Pied-billed Grebe - 1
2. Double-crested Cormorant - 12
3. Great Blue Heron - 1
4. Canada Goose - 24
5. Wood Duck - 29
6. Mallard - 11
7. Common Merganser - 45
8. Merlin - 2 sightings, likely 1 bird
9. Greater Yellowlegs - 1
10. Ring-billed Gull - 18
11. Feral Pigeon - 1
12. Northern Flicker - 1
13. Hairy Woodpecker - 1
14. Black-billed Magpie - 8
15. American Crow - 5
16. Black-capped Chickadee - 6
17. White-breasted Nuthatch - 3
18. Red-breasted Nuthatch - 3
19. Ruby -crowned Kinglet - 1
20. American Robin - 5
21. European Starling - 200+
22. Pine Siskin - 10
23. House Sparrow - 3