Ruddy Duck

On 23 January 2022, Erika and I photographed a pair of Ruddy Ducks on Capitol Lake in Olympia. In the winter we occasionally list this species, but only at this location. The bird in the foreground is a female and the back one is a male. Both are in Basic Plumage. Wahl et al. (2005) write that Ruddy Ducks are locally common migrants and winter visitors and rare or uncommon breeding birds in Washington.