Blue-winged Teal

A single, male, Blue-winged Teal stopped by for a short visit yesterday. This is one of my favorite ducks. At first glance, from behind it appears similar to a Mallard with a bit of a shimmering purple-green iridescent head, but the Teal is a much smaller duck. In fact, the Blue-winged Teal is one of the smallest ducks in North America. Of course the best identifying mark, on the male, is the bright white crescent on his face making for easy identification. The pale blue wing patch is often concealed, but I have a few shots with the blue wing and green speculum exposed, I'll add one to this post shortly. I've seen Teals before during migration season, but have never seen one in my own pond, so this was a real treat.