I haven’t seen many migrating ducks yet at my local marsh, so I traveled to the Potomac River this weekend, because I had heard from a birder that there were numerous ducks there. There were lots of Mallards, some Northern Shovelers (I think), and this cool-looking duck with a distinctive white patch on its cheek that I could not identify initially. After I returned home, it didn’t take long to figure out that this as a Ruddy Duck (Oxyura jamaicensis), a species that I had never seen before.
© Michael Q. Powell. All rights reserved.
Wait till you see one in breeding plumage, Mike, when that bill on the male turns a crazy baby blue color. Visit again over the next couple months – lots of cool ducks down on the Potomac.
I’ll be sure to check them out, now that I know of a place where some ducks hang out. I’ve seen some photos of that wild blue bill and hope to see it myself.
I’ve seen that blue bill – it looks like it doesn’t belong!!
There must be thousands of ducks in the Potomac. I can’t remember ever seeing this one.
I saw only a few small groupings in the area in which I looked, but I suspect that you are right. Last year I remember seeing lots of Canada geese on the Potomac, but never went in search of ducks. It’s a bit of a challenge to photograph ducks on a larger river, because they can quickly swim out of range of the camera.