A single deer and a duck ID

gluwater

The weather was nice today, still a bit cold but tolerable with a sweater on. So I went to the woods and for the first time saw female Wood Ducks. The moment I saw them I took a shot and with the first step I took towards them they were gone. I thought I had a male and three females but on closer inspection I don't know what the other two were. I tried looking them up but couldn't figure it out. So anyone know what they are? Sorry about the bad shot but it's the only one I got .



I turned around after taking the shot of the ducks and staring me down was a deer. I stayed still and then noticed two others. I tried to get closer but then a friend called me on my cell and they ran off. Oh well it was the second time I had been to this spot and the second time I had seen deer there so I'll have to visit it more often.

Thusie

Hey you got the woodie in focus! I can relate to get what you can get before they leave on you, spookie. The one with the all brown head looks like a Hooded Merganser not sure on the others.

Really nice deer shot!

traunerk

re duck id...
looks to me like you have a female wood duck, an immature male hooded merganser, a male wood duck and a female hooded merganser. But I'm no expert - just a happy hobbyist.:):

Regards...Keith

gluwater

Thanks for the ID's Thusie and Keith. I thought they looked like Hooded Mergansers but they didn't quite match up to what my book showed, and my book didn't show an imature either. I know they are in my area but I have never seen them before either. They were very shy and flew off almost the instant they saw me. I'll have to work on getting better shots of them. Thanks for the comments!

saurora

Very nice shot of the deer....really sharp. (Next time put your cell phone on vibrate...)

Rohirrim

Glad you found a female woody. Nice looking deer too!