So, Doug Schonewald pointed that the object of Wood Duck's affection, which I called a mallard, appears to be a Spot-billed Duck. I walked to the lake on lunch break again today and didn't see them until I was about to leave. They were coming up the shoreline, inches apart like yesterday. I had never heard of a Spot-billed Duck but I looked at a bunch of pictures last night and had to agree with Doug that the duck on Capitol Lake appears to be one.

I uploaded some pictures from today, focusing a bit more on the "mallard".....


http://s165.photobucket.com/albums/u75/junewild/

In some of the pictures (only one of the ones uploaded to photobucket) you can see a thin greenish band around the bird's left ankle. The first time I noticed it in one of the pictures, I thought it was a piece of vegetation but it appears in several pictures taken at various locations so I'm convinced it's quite attached around the duck's ankle. It just doesn't look like any typical bird band I'm familiar with.

Spot-billed Duck... anyone want to suggest something else?

Kelly McAllister
Olympia, Washington