A Nice Start To March

I was really happy to see this northern pintail today. I usually only see them in large flocks on much larger bodies of water. This one was alone (as in, he was the only one of his species) on a small pond not too far from home.

There were about 80 mallards and about 30 Canada geese and similar number of wood ducks, along with a common merganser, ring-neck duck, American wigeon, and two common goldeneyes.

But this striking fellow stood out as the most elegant individual of the whole group. That chocolate head with the striking white blaze up the back of the neck- the dappling on the body- and that tail.

These may be my favorite of the more common ducks we get in Montana. We will have them for about 90 days and then they become a lot more scarce around these parts. What a nice way to start March.

Northern Pintail- Anas acuta