I’m going to break from tradition of FIFO for a bit and execute a LIFO on my photography queue. My brother is becoming quite the birding competitor requiring me to step up my game on the bird list front. In the face of this stiff competition I’m forced to break from protocol and feature a recent addition to the North American Bird List Collection
This beautiful duck was shot in Washington Park in Springfield IL. I was down there dealing with some family medical concerns and had the chance to head over to that park for a quick 10 mile training run. Turns out the rolling hills in that park seemed to have grown in size since my last trips there as a kid. By the time the 9th mile came the legs were considering an all out rebellion. The last mile became a quest to find a distraction sufficient enough overcome the loud screams of torture at each footfall. Opportunity knocks at the most interesting of times.
While crossing over a bridge I noticed a crap load of ducks and allies enjoying a small ice free area of a large frozen pond. In the brief time they were in view it appeared that the occupants were predominantly Mallards and Canada Geese, but it looked like there were some outliers which are prime fodder for birders. There was another mile to hammer out so unfortunately no time for a detailed scan.
Hit the jump to see a few more shots of this ornate Duck.
