I saw one duck in the parking lot and then heard a second one in the garden. I think they were scouting for a nest site (March 2016). From a distance, I thought they were Mallard hens.
Now I think it is a pair of Florida Mottled Ducks. Mottled Duck drakes and hens are hard to tell apart except for their bills (male/yellow; female/orange mottled with brown).
If I've identified this couple correctly, we're lucky they're here in Wildewood. A loss of wetland habitat has led to decrease in populations. Numbers have fluctuated widely in response to periodic drought conditions. That, and Mallards introduced as pets frequently interbreed with Mottled Ducks and because of this hybridization, Mottled Ducks are on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. (The State Watch is a list of species most in danger of extinction without significant conservation action.)
I like to watch Mottled Duck eat. They're called dabblers because they eat while swimming in shallow water. They dip their head forward and under water and when they do, their tail tips up. Ducks are categorized into divers and dabblers.
And I like to watch them take flight. Like Mallards and other dabblers, they take off vertically from the water.
I hope they build a nest in my garden. Breeding begins in January and continues through July, peaking in March and April. They like to make their nests in shallow grass depressions that the female lines with her down. Their nests are usually within 600 feet of water (Smithsonian Birds of Florida).
Heading back to the pond.
