I returned to the local wetlands, hoping to see a Wilson's Phalarope. I had a few other targets in mind as well. I didn't see any of those... but I did see something I didn't expect. A large flock of Wood Ducks! Conservatively, there were a couple hundred. I first saw a large flock of ducks fly, at a good distance, from one pond to another. I snapped a few photos to hopefully get some IDs later. I then noticed a large flock of about 100 Wood Ducks sitting in another nearby pond. I'd never seen so many! After taking some photos I turned around — I didn't want to walk too close and scare them all away.

When reviewing photos later, I was surprised to see the flock of a couple hundred or more flying ducks was at least half Wood Ducks! Pretty cool to have seen such a large group on a migration stopover.

These photos are © 2024 Phil Thompson, all rights reserved.

My "birds in review" collages can be found here.