By Sally Siko
While photographing a large raft of American Wigeons last weekend in the OBX, I spotted this drake having a splash on the North Pond on Pea Island.
It was a lot of fun trying to get the “perfect” photo which captured the energy of this handsome duck as he fluttered and dipped in the water.
As usual I think I could have done better lol but am generally pleased with this set of pics 🙂
A wintertime resident of the Tarheel State,
the American Wigeons breeding range extends from the state of Alaska south through Canada’s Prairie Provinces and down through the U.S. Prairie Pothole Region.
Each autumn they fly south to spend the cooler months in Mexico and the Caribbean Islands as well as locations along the Pacific, Gulf and Atlantic coasts here in the United States.
Preferring large open bodies of water away from the woods, large flocks American Wigeons are a fairly common sight in the eastern Piedmont region and coastal areas of North Carolina.
Look for them in wide open freshwater marshes, lakes, rivers, ponds, brackish bays, impoundments and estuaries from now through late March/early April.
Photos by @sally_siko of @bestlife_birding on my mighty mirrorless monster, the @canonusa #R5