Sightings May 28 Wood Ducks

This morning at 8 am in Old Jefferson, as I was driving across Jefferson Highway at St. George, two Wood Ducks came flying low overhead.  They circled low several times.  Presumably a nest is somewhere in the immediate area, in one of the large trees.  This species nests in cavities, from which the young plunge to the ground when they fledge.  They bounce off the ground unscathed, and follow their mother to water, which may be some distance away.

Some years ago, I stopped traffic on River Rd to allow a hen Wood Duck to lead her brood across the road into the batture.  And I have heard that for years in succession a house near there on Dodge had Woodies nesting in its eaves each year. 

Woodies are on p. 76 in Birding Made Easy.