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Spending time in the wood duck blind this week gave me the opportunity to not only get wood duck photos but also experience a couple of special wildlife encounters.

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A pair of wolves started howling within a few hundred feet from me moments after getting into the blind. Even though it was too dark for photos I was wishing they would come into view but that was not the case.

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The second morning howling started from on top of the ridge behind the pond. They weren’t as close as the morning before but still a memorable experience.

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In the evening Karla and I both got to see a red fox working the shoreline of the pond for mice. All the wood ducks swam over to the fox. It was like they were trying to chase her off. She had no interest in the ducks and just continued to search for mice in the tall grass. I was surprised that the ducks seemed to have no fear of the fox.

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I happened to catch this drake exercising his wings. The blue feathers are so beautiful when stretched out.

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Each morning the group rests on the moss-covered logs along the shoreline of the pond. The calm water produced perfect reflections.

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They look so peaceful.

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This wood duck stood still long enough for me to get a long exposure at a high f-stop creating more depth of field. I think this was my favorite photo for the week.

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I took about 30 photos just to get a couple that didn’t have any movement in them.

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Their head and beak have just about every color in the rainbow or as I heard someone say, “A box of Crayola’s”.

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Wood Ducks are truly amazing.

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