Duck Atlas: Canvasback (Aythya valisineria 

).

At Kiwanis Park in Tempe, Arizona. 

This lone female canvasback was sheltering among large rafts of ring-necks and scaups – the sole member of her species in a crowded pond. 

Please click any photo in the set for full views.

Duck Atlas: Canvasback (Aythya valisineria 

).

At Kiwanis Park in Tempe, Arizona. 

This lone female canvasback was sheltering among large rafts of ring-necks and scaups – the sole member of her species in a crowded pond. 

Please click any photo in the set for full views.

Great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus ), at Kiwanis Park, Tempe, Arizona.

Please click to enlarge, else you’ll miss the splendid iridescent colors. 

The male grackles in my neighborhood are beginning to display their flamboyant mating plumage, and to behave in attention-getting ways. Love’s season comes early in the desert.

Great-tailed grackle (Quiscalus mexicanus ), at Kiwanis Park, Tempe, Arizona.

Please click to enlarge, else you’ll miss the splendid iridescent colors. 

The male grackles in my neighborhood are beginning to display their flamboyant mating plumage, and to behave in attention-getting ways. Love’s season comes early in the desert.