Wood Duck Sighting

It has been quite a few days since my last post, and that is partly due to the overcast weather we have been experiencing. I have been taking photos, but I felt them too grainy. Today however grainy or not, I had to upload these photos which are a first for me at Lakeside Park. I first sighted this duck as I sat at the table from the bottom edge of the lake at just after 6:30 this morning. The duck was swimming with the mallards, but even with the low light at that time, its markings were to my eye quite different. There was an obvious white mark on its beak:

I quickly set up my camera on my monopod, only to realize that the camera's battery was dead. Not a huge problem, as I always carry a spare which I quickly fitted and then focussed on the mallards. Maybe I was mistaken, there were only mallards in the water. I went over what I had seen in my mind's eye and the duck was definitely a different species, but where was it? I scanned the lake with my lens, but could only find the mallards, then out to the right-hand side of the lake, I spotted the duck. It must have seen my movement while changing batteries and moved away. I stayed out of sight this time and watched as it swam to the edge of the lily pads and started feeding:

I took quite a few photos, as in this light, it's so hard to judge focus and it's never certain that any will come out sharp. The duck was really wary and with even the slightest movement from behind cover, it swam off. I heard a car pull up from behind me and was happy to see it was another photographer. He quickly identified the duck from my photos as a male wood duck. As I mentioned, that's a first for me, and the other photographer who has been coming to Lakeside Park for many years also said that it's a first for him here:

Nothing but grainy photos from the last few days, but perhaps I should include a few. This wren appears to be in a sunny meadow, but it was actually raining at the time. The goldenrod in the wildflower meadow provided the illusion:

These hairy caterpillars have all but stripped the leaves from the milkweed plants at the bottom edge of the lake. They are called milkweed tussock moth caterpillars:

Lots of activity from the finches feeding in the fir trees and also in the wildflower meadow:

Insect feeding birds also. This is a great crested flycatcher that I captured in the bushes which edge the wildflower meadow:

Lastly, the only non-grainy photo on this post. It's of a chickadee which sat for a few minutes this morning, preening itself in the few rays of sunlight we had:

I should mention that I did see two unusual warblers this morning. The migration has started!

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