What Kind of Duck is this?
 

I was taking a few pictures at Salt Marsh Pond in Gilford, and just as I was packing up to leave a flock of these ducks showed up, must have been about 12-14 0f them. Not at all shy, they weren't bothered my me being about 10 feet away.

I went through my field guide.. they are 30% smaller than Mallards .. my best guess is a Gadwell, but the field guide doesn't show a white eye patch.

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Hen mallards
 

Steve;

Those are hen mallards. The white line on the blue in the wing is the give away. A couple of them are immature and don't have their full adult plumage as of yet.

Dan

Thanks Dan, I thought they looked like mallards, just too small. The whole lot of them are the same size.. that's what threw me. Parents must have taken off.

Does anybody think the 2 ducks on the right might be immature wood ducks? Notice the white around the cheeks.

I Stand Corrected!
 

J.P.

I think you are right and I stand corrected. They are all young wood ducks. The white around the eye is something a mallard does not have even when immature.

I initially thought these pics were taken on Winni, rarely will you see a wood duck on the big lake so I immediately thought young hen mallard. I now see where Steve took these at a smaller pond which is much more likely of a place for a woody.

Dan

Thanks Guys
 

I focused in on the head and face of a few of the other pictures I took.

I certainly didn't see anything that looked like the adult wood ducks in my
field guide..

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Yep, That Be A Wood Duck!
 

Wood Duck is my final answer Steve! :D

Dan

Thanks for the final answer.. but I do have one more question...

How much wood would a wood duck chuck if a wood duck could chuck wood? :rolleye1:

SteveA, I think the guys in the little white coats are now out looking for you! :)

R2B

If he got a buck per chuck and had his own truck that got stuck in muck, but had some luck to get unstuck and help from a woodchuck who had a friend named Chuck the duck, about eleven.

When they show up... I'll give them JP's address... might as well make it a clean sweep. :)