A Duck Day

H and I had a good row in gorgeous sunshine this morning checking out all the ducks in Union Bay. Several hours later we took a good birdwatching walk with some "birder" friends at the marshy Urban Horticulture Center and tried to identify what we saw. They had a good spotting scope. So many more species than I thought! I can only remember Merganzer, Hooded Merganzer, Mallard, Ruddy, Gadwall, Cormorant, Bufflehead, Scaups, Spoonbills, Green winged Teal, Coots, Heron, and 2 White Swans. I tried to put several together but decided I better stick to ones I knew for sure (!) so here you have an American Wigeon, (might be the female just behind) standing on a rock and Ring-necked Ducks in the back. I learned that wigeons and coots often travel together in flocks so perhaps that is why we couldn't positively decide what those huge groups are....
Then we went out for a yummy late lunch....Cold is still annoyingly present, but trying to ignor it....