A strong cold front blew in last night bringing in some overdue birds this morning. After a high of 90 yesterday it didn't make it to 60 today. But that's good weather for ducks and we had eight species today. Duck of the day goes to the returning Fulvous X Black-bellied Whistling-Duck. The plumage seemed crisper to me than our previous bird with no pink on the bill, so it could be a different one or maybe just a year older. Basically it looks like a Fulvous but without the dorsal scaling and more maroon plumage on the upper back and sides. Here's some distant photos.
And here's a regular Fulvous Whistling-Duck for comparison.
The morning started when I looked out the back window and saw our first Northern Shoveller of the month.
And our first Lesser Scaup with four Ring-necked Ducks. Photo leaves a bit to be desired.
Our first Common Gallinule of the month was a juvenile.
And lastly I saw a distant floppy-tailed black bird sitting on the carrizo out of the wind. It's getting late for Groove-billed Ani.
Finished the month with 123 species seen from our yard, an all time monthly high. It broke our previous record of 121 from Oct 2017.
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