Handsome Wood Ducks

Normally, I don't go on any evening bird walks, but I had been meaning for ages to get over to the Inglewood Bird Sanctuary. It always feels like a long drive across the city, but I thought this particular bird walk yesterday evening, 22 August 2017, would actually get me over there. I'm really glad I went, not just seeing friends, but also these two Wood Ducks that were reasonably close. I don't see Wood Ducks very often and usually, when I do see them, they are far away. The light wasn't as good as I would have liked, so my photos are not as sharp as they could have been, but I'm still happy to get them.

"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

We saw 24 species of bird, including 2 Great Blue Herons, 2 Bald Eagles, 1 Osprey, 1 Merlin, 8 Wood Ducks, and an American Goldfinch. I will add the complete list that Andrew Hart compiled, in a comment box below. Thanks, Andrew! Thanks, too, Janet, for a very enjoyable two and a half hour walk on such a beautiful evening!