Hooded Mergansers still hanging around

I was happy to see that the Hooded Merganser ducks that have been visiting a pond in Oviedo are continuing their stay,

This “raft” (what a group of these ducks are called) includes the dapper males with their white crests, the brown-colored females with often spiky crests and at least one juvenile male, who has yellow eyes but the coloring of a female.

On an afternoon in late December when I visited the pond, there were some other ducks with them. They appeared to be Mallard/Mottled ducks, hybrids of Florida native Mottled Ducks and Mallards. Hey, all are welcome to visit as long as they like.

I was also startled and then excited when one of the males took flight and I was able to get some photos of it.