Well, we officially passed the halfway point of our northwest excursion, otherwise known as the point my butt longs for multi-ply toilet paper (RV humor). We are now on our way inland from the pacific tip of Washington as we make our way south. I originally wrote up an intro that covered some of the not-so-great aspects of the trip so far. Most of the way into it decided you deserved better than that screed, scrapped it all and will simply summarize as somehow we have lost a great deal of society decorum. The cause is probably a thesis in itself, but my gut says the faux pandemic is at the core or maybe political polarization – I’ll leave it for historical study. Regardless, it has been glaring to the point Linda’s new favorite shirt is one she got at a fish hatchery in Cascade Locks, OR that reads “I Hike Because People Suck”. Laughed out loud when she saw it..had to have it ha. Let’s flip the script and brighten up the post. Birding has been really good and after today’s +1 in the mountains of Idaho I’m now sitting at 373+3. The 400 goal for this year is definitely in reach..maybe even before we make it back home!
With the rewrite, I opted to switch to a featured feathered friend that ALWAYS bring a smile whenever we find it in the field
Smiles, smiles and even more smiles after the jump!
I still remember a birder Ron and I met at Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge on our Texas trip last January asking me what my favorite Duck was. Although that was the first time I have ever been asked that question, the response was immediate – “The Wood Duck“. Maybe it was a test, apparently passed as he complimented the choice. Would love to hear in the comments what your choice would be given a similar inquiry. For the curious, the Northern Pintail (link here) is a very close second choice, but there is one element that tips the scale to the Woods.
Want to guess what that might be? Big hint, it’s the male’s better half. The Pintail’s complimentary color palatte and sharp hue transitions are stunning and can hold up against the vibrant colors of the male Wood Ducks….but…the Pintail females are a bit blah dressed up in the mottled browns pretty common to the rest of the females in the Duck family. Contrast that with the stunning tear drop eye ring, fine white bill edging and that punky hairdo – reference below.
Is there a cuter female hen out there? Add in their smallish/delicate stature and “You had me at hello”. They also have tinges of the green/blue hues of the male about the wings and face that reveal themselves when the sun hits them just right.
Queens of the swamp in my book and clearly the drake is a fitting mate for such a delicate looking waterfowl. Individually, few birds make me happier through the viewfinder, squeeze them both into the same shot, might as well call me Bobby McFerrin (link here).
Sing it little lady….
“Here’s a little song I wrote
You might want to sing it note for note
Don’t worry, be happy
In every life we have some trouble
When you worry you make it double
Don’t worry, be happy
Don’t worry, be happy now“
You just smiled, I know you did!
These frown decimators come to you courtesy of a trip we took to Arizona back in (sheepishly looks down) 2024. Our travel plans take us across the Texas Handle and through Amarillo. There is an urban park there we always try to hit on our way through as it happens to be the easiest location to check off the Cackling Goose for the year.
Sure, there are plenty of other places to get the Cackling, but who really wants to parse through hundreds and hundreds of Canada Geese looking for those tiny bills – not fun as it also means taking boat loads of flock shots to review in the digital darkroom hoping to pick out the one or two Cacklings. Compare that to pulling up at this park and walking straight up to dozens of Cacklings – every once in a while birding can be easy ha.
The Medical Center Park (“Medi Park”) has since been renamed the John Ward Memorial Park (link here). Don’t expect much info on that link – pretty lame webpage. I do not do Facebook, but this page has a lot more background on the park (link here). There is a really nice walkway around the pond and the birds in the area seem very accustomed to human traffic allowing you to get some really nice close shots.
These Wood Ducks were a nice addition to the Cackling checks and probably my favorite series of this particular bird. Normally I am having to tramp around a swamp fighting varying degrees of horrible lighting to get these beauties in the tin. The clear views and helpful lighting bringing out their iridescent hues really made the day.
Need to get up early tomorrow and continue our trek south, so better wrap this up. I’ll leave you with this last shot which I happen to like a lot. It gives a really good look at the rainbow mullet in the back, the brilliant red eye and the incredible feather detailing throughout the body.
I think I’ll title that last shot “Summer Curling” – the Canadians out there will get the reference hehehehe.
May you wear your infectious smiles proudly and hopefully help to bring about a better disposition to those around us – take care!
Wildlife Intrigued 
Wood ducks are so magnificent looking! I love it when they arrive here, but they don’t last long.
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Always brings a smile … which is good because I’m usually getting attacked by Mosquitoes whenever we go out to find them ha! Take care and appreciate you coming by!
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Too much single-ply toilet paper in the Northwest lets all the crap seep through. Wood ducks are cool. I remember the first time I saw a pair of wood ducks frolicking in a cottonwood. I said, “WTF!” Beautiful photos.
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Like sandpaper I tell ya’! I can imagine that response when you saw them for the first time – little darlings and then to see their nimble little feet holding onto a branch … heart melt. Enjoy your time off Tim and get those batteries recharged. I know how you feel, I spent 3 hours before publishing this post to figure out how to get my image photos back now that WP canned my classic editor. Ended up having to go back to CSS code to make it work – can’t imagine how dealing with these issues would be for people not in the IT business or familiar with resolving these types of issues – I’m retired, I shouldn’t have to relive my nightmares from the grind. Take care!
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I’m running an ancient theme, which might be part of the problems I’m having. WP was pestering me to change to a new Blockhead theme a few years ago. I chose a theme, and my layout was a mess, and most of my photos would not show up. I’m not going to spend the time to try and fix the CSS on a new theme. It can’t be done. I worked with my ISP afew years ago to set up a test self-hosted WP site. We could not find a theme that would support my current layout and show all my photos and content correctly. Either self-hosted or WP hosted, I would have to make a current post fit to the new theme, contune on from there, and let the other 15 years of posts go to hell. I believe that is one big reason bloggers simply give up alltogether.
I run a self-hosted WP site for our office website that is built entirely on the Blockhead theme. It’s more stable than my personal WP, but it is really easy to screw it up. I’ve accidentally used the wrong tool or made a simple scripting errors that messed up the site beyond repair, and I had to restore the whole site from a backup. The Blockhead themes are not forgiving.
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Very fine photos! We see a fair number here during the warmer months. I’m partial to them as well as wigeons and mallards – the most numerous and full of personality.
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I always enjoy when you feature the Woodies on your blog Belinda! They can be hard to find at times knowing their pension to hang in the wooded ponds here in the States, but always worth the effort when I see those colors and that white teardrop. Thanks for coming by, appreciate it!
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Thanks, that teardrop gets me too 😊
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You’ve certainly done justice to the beautiful colours and patterns/designs of these birds’ plumage.
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Thank you Anneli! Now that I am past the month full of less that stellar shots, I can get back to the better executions. Always a visual joy whenever we find these kaleidoscopes of color on the water. We made it close to you up there, eventually had to turn back once we got to the far corner of Washington.
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I suppose I could have waved to you, but it is still a bit of a trip to get onto the island. You’ve certainly done some traveling as you chase these elusive bird shots.
Have you noticed that there are fewer songbirds in other places you’ve traveled through? We’ve certainly noticed a decline on Vancouver Island over the past couple of years.
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Very colorful duck. Curling was what I was thinking before I even read your line about curling.
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Hahaha, great minds…
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Love the pine cone & duck textures together. Great photo! I get the curling joke, but I’m not Canadian. My favorite duck to see here are the Whistling Ducks when they come in a pair walking down the sidewalk in the pouring rain! They make me laugh.
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Hi Teri, glad you enjoyed the post! Although not Canadian, you must have seen some curling a time or two to get that reference ha. Admittedly, I got hooked on watching it during the last olympics – wife was wondering what had gotten into me hehehe. I do like the Whistlers and those ducks have are right up there with the Woods on the cute factor scale, although when they flock together I highly recommend getting some ear plugs! As always, thanks for coming by and have yourself a great weekend.
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Yes curling is a funny thing to watch! With that sweeping thing they do, it seems a bit like cheating to me. They ate so intense that it doesn’t look like much fun. I suspect that winning is the fun part!
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I have yet to see one of these ducks. They are so colorful
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Keep those eyes open Sandra, they are well worth the wait! Like in most cases, as soon as you see your first, you’ll be seeing them everywhere you look ha. Take care Sandra and sorry to hear about all the issues you had with WP. I know the frustration.
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These are now my favorite ducks. Just beautiful! You really got some nice shots. I hope the rest of your trip is more enjoyable!☀️
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I took some photos recently of a pair of Wood Ducks perched overhead in a tree. It always tickles me to see tree ducks – so improbable! You’ve done a great job of capturing both the male and female plumages (and maybe some juvi’s?) – great lighting and poses. Wishing you safe travels, and more comfy TP in your future!
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They are a pretty Duck.
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