Subject: female wood duck on Union Bay
Date: Aug 8 22:53:34 1999
From: tuisto at oz.net - tuisto at oz.net


Tweets:

Today I visited the Museum of History and Industry in Seattle (I recommend
the exhibit "A Change of Worlds" for anyone interested in what was
happening in our area before the Denny party arrived) and afterwards
strolled over Marsh Island. There were some mallards, Canada geese and
chickadees, but nothing very interesting until I saw an odd small duck with
a white eye "ring" (actually teardrop-shaped) and sort of a gray Mohawk.
I didn't recognize it, but after consulting a field guide I figured out it
was a female wood duck. I've seen female wood ducks before, but only when
accompanied by their more colorful male partners, in which context they
were apparently unmemorable to me. I now see my error in this
color-chauvinism: the single female with her blue-green ("teal") accents,
white eye and gray crest was an elegant, attractive duck and a highpoint in
the afternoon.

Paul Talbert, Hillman City, Seattle
tuisto at oz.net