Male Wood Duck, Green Island Wetlands
The butt sticking out of the water in the background didn’t belong to a female Wood Duck but rather to a Blue-winged Teal. The beautiful male Wood Duck was all by himself but enjoyed the company of a few teals. Ducks of one species are quite often seen together with other duck species or even geese or coots. They seem to benefit from each other especially by watching out for predators. The Green Island Wetlands beside the Mississippi have plenty of food for all of them. While many ducks, mergansers, and geese have moved on further north, more birds have arrived in large numbers, like thousands of American Coots. Some of them will use the lakes and marshes around Green Island to raise a new generation. It’s an exciting time to be out there at this time of the year… 😊