Saturday Critters #590

Driving home a few days ago, 

I noticed an Egret on the edge of the river I live on, the Manasquan River.

The first Egret I am seeing this season, I am excited and 

I ask the hubs was to spin the car around so I could capture an image of him.

This is the exact same place this Egret use to hang out last year.

- anywho -

In the short time it took to turn around, the Egret was gone,  replaced with two male wood ducks.

Boy...was I surprised, I have never seen wood ducks in this area of town, and never on my river.

But how lucky am I...Wood Ducks are only in New Jersey in the winter so they will be leaving very soon.

Given the choice, I would much rather see two male wood ducks than an Egret.

Across the street at Godfree Lake I saw this duck which I had never seen before.

A Male Blue Winged Teal

Godfree Lake is so close to home but not know for it's birds or ducks.

My book says it is a small, distinctive duck, but I thought it was rather large.

My book also says it is one of the most abundant waterfowl species.

The blue color reference in the name is only visible when this duck is in flight.

There were a lot of Mallards but they were swimming in a little cove with a lot of reeds,

difficult to photograph.

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 

Viewing Nature With Eileen 

for Saturday Critters