Date: Fri, 30 Mar 2001 21:24:32 -0500 Reply-To: Maryland Birds & Birding Sender: Maryland Birds & Birding From: LMarkoff Subject: Re: Questions about Wood ducks Mime-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset="us-ascii" Hello Osprey, >I agree with Kerry. I've always loved the males but have been partial >to the more subtle markings of the female wood duck. Kerry if you want >to see a bird that will knock your socks off, go to Maine in the summer >and look for the juvenal-plumaged Bonaparte's Gulls. These have to be >some of the most gorgeous gulls I have ever seen! > >Norm Saunders I too recently discovered the beauty of the female Wood duck. I don't own a scope, so only rarely have a chance to *really* see waterfowl. I've been taking two of my children, both birder wannabes, to the National Zoo lately to follow the progress of the nesting Costa's hummingbirds. We also visited the bird house each time because we specifically wanted to see the ducks. It was fantastic to be able to see the ducks and other waterfowl so close up. It was surprising and fun when the wild Wood ducks that live there would suddenly take flight! There are quite a few of them there. I was watching one female Wood duck who was right below us as we stood on the boardwalk. I never realized how much color the females have. She was stunning! Another treat are the 400 or so wild Black-crowned Night Herons who nest in the trees right over the duck ponds. Incredible! We've stopped going to the zoo now that the crowds are starting to build for the tourist season. We'll go back to see the hummers and ducks again when the crowds have left. :-) Lori Markoff Vienna, VA Fairfax County markoff@cais.com ======================================================================= To leave the MDOsprey list, send e-mail to listserv@home.ease.lsoft.com with the following message in line 1: signoff mdosprey ======================================================================= =========================================================================