Wood Duck

I keep running into wood ducks in the same spots every year, and every year I think I’ve worked them out. I haven’t.

The call is the cheap win, the thing you pick up first because you don’t need the bird to sit still for it.

My images for this species are all made with available light. I don’t use fill flash in the field.

I’ve had good looks during fall migration on ridges and less consistent luck at coastal stopovers.

If I had to explain what pulled me into birding, I’d point at a wood duck and not try to say more.