"These tiny ducks are among the earliest fall migrants to reach Texas ... some will remain in Texas through the winter ... Reluctant to return again until the waters have warmed, they may linger here into late April or early May. A few have even remained to breed ... particularly within the northern half ... As the male blue-wing molts his body feathers again to breeding plumage, he gets a blue-gray head with a broad white crescent before the eye. In that plumage he is unmistakable."

Photo taken with a Nikon D80 using a Nikon 300mm f/2.8 manual focus lens.

April 15, 2007