Tuesday, March 25, 2014

An Unusual Duck

Today I finished up my list of 20 different Hot Spots to meet the eBird challenge for the month of March.  My last spot was a reservoir next to a dairy in rural Polk County called Wendell Kreder Reservoir.  I could see from the road that it was full of ducks.  When I walked a little closer and checked with my binoculars I noticed this duck in the above photo. I started right away counting the other ducks; 40 Ring-necked Ducks, 20 Green-winged Teals, 10 Mallards, 1 Rudy Duck, 1 Bufflehead, and one Coot.  I went back to the single duck I first noticed.  It was a little larger than a Mallard.  Looking closely with my binoculars, I could not decide, so I pulled out my camera and zoomed in for several shots.  Zooming in with the review function I realized I didn't have a clue, the butt was like no other duck I could think of.   I was just about ready to pull out my iPod and start looking through bird Apps when the light went on.  This is not a real duck, this is a decoy left my some duck hunter, or at least a person with a strange sense of humor. 

2 comments:

  1. Love It! I'd like to use this Id for all the birds I don't know.
    Janet

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  2. You took a good photo. I noticed it was riding a little high in the water. We all need a good chuckle once in a while.

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