Thursday, April 19, 2012

Wood Ducks on spring pond

















This evening Jessica and I went to a friend's house to use his photography blind in hopes of seeing the Wood Ducks on his pond.  We were told that each day there were anywhere from two to sixteen ducks using the pond.  We went into the blind at 5:30 PM and the first pair of Woodies landed at 6:00.  They were only on the pond for about 20 to 30 seconds, then they walked up into the woods on the opposite side of the pond from us.  We didn't see any more ducks until 7:00 PM, when a group of 4 more landed.  When they flew over the blind we could hear the "whooooooosh" or air under their wings.  5 minutes or so later a few more landed.  Ultimately we ended up seeing a total of 9 Wood Ducks and 4 Mallards.  We also saw the resident Muskrat swim back and forth across the pond several times.  Oh, and there was a Ruffed Grouse drumming throughout the evening in the nearby woods. We left the blind at 7:30 PM, just as the spring peeper frogs were starting to sing.  It was an unforgettable spring evening in the Minnesota Northwoods!

















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