This wood duck surprised me last week as we walked to the far bog where the beavers reside. As we approached the bog, the ducks paddling around the open water section near us sped away into the central part of the bog. This usually meant we missed any chance of getting a picture of them.

I tied off Murphy to improve any chances of wildlife photography (he is getting used to this and generally doesn’t complain).

I stood halfway down the trail for about twenty minutes. I got pictures of robins and nuthatches (see right; this is probably a robin but it looks a bit ragged and makes me wonder about my ID).

All of a sudden, this wood duck comes in for an abrupt landing onto the water in front of me. He then slowly swims away from me without much panic.