WOOD DUCK DRAKE

I actually shot this in early Spring just as the ice was coming off the local potholes.....Beckett liked my Mandarin Drake but I allowed that the Wood duck Drake (Aix sponsa) in breeding plumage was much more striking. So I'm posting this one today to show the difference. 

Called Wood ducks because, unlike most other ducks, these nest in holes in trees...but will readily accept man made nesting boxes as a substitute. In the extra photo there is the hen Wood duck...her plumage is much more subdued.