Far from Home

Far from Home, a photo by Peter E. Lee on Flickr.

Via Flickr:
A Red-Billed, Black-Bellied Whistling Duck enjoys some R&R far from home in the Great Meadows National Wildlife Refuge in Concord, MA.

I was walking through the refuge this morning when I saw several birders talking excitedly about seeing this duck. One of the NWR staff were kind enough to show me a good vantage point and even lent me his binoculars to take a look. I got this shot a little later when the duck had moved to a more photographically accessible location.

Apparenly this species is native to Texas and Florida, but are very rarely seen in New England. This little guy has been here for several days now, which is even more unusual.