These are some photos I took of a very large flock of Green-winged Teal with a few Northern Pintails mixed in. The flock numbered at least 200 individuals. The entire flock took flight, circled the waterway and landed again twice, giving me an opportunity to catch them in flight. The first photo shows a portion of the flock taking off.
Green-winged Teals are the smallest fresh water duck in our area and the few Northern Pintails flying with the flock really stand out due to their much larger size and long neck. The color pattern on the speculum (wing primary feathers) is also different in the two species. The green patch on the Teals’ wings look blue instead of green due to the angle of the lighting.
The flock managed to land en masse without air traffic control and with no collisions. Impressive!
Birds in My Viewfinder 