"Psychedeluck."

The reflection of a red brick building from the other side of the river made for quite a strange looking water surface while I watched this Wood Duck. Hennepin County, MN 03/27/24

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Even after years of seeing them at close distances like this, it's still hard not to be enamored with the male Wood Duck. There's no Minnesota bird quite so comically colorful. Hennepin County, MN 03/18/24

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I've already made 3 trips to photograph Wood Ducks this season and it's still only March! I typically photograph them in April, but lakes and ponds here have been ice free for months already due to our extremely warm winter. Hennepin County, MN 03/18/24

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A Blue-headed Mallard? Nope, it's simply "iridescent" feathers which are present on many different duck species, and even some songbirds. The definition of iridescent is "showing luminous colors that seem to change when seen from different angles." I often see a little bit of blue showing along with a majority of green coloring on a drake mallard's head. But once in a great while -as with this image- only blue will show up on the head! Indeed it is all about the angle, and the light. Had I captured this photo just seconds earlier or later, he might have appeared to have a fully green head. Hennepin County, MN 03/18/24

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I've already made 3 trips to photograph Wood Ducks this season and it's still only March! I typically photograph them in April, but lakes and ponds here have been ice free for months already due to our extremely warm winter. Hennepin County, MN 03/15/24

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