It was raw and drizzly today, and though a quick walk through the dreary landscape yielded a few decent images, I had a notion to visit the coast for a quick photo jaunt in advance of grocery shopping. (Oh, the fascinating life of the retired naturalist...) I've been hoping to write about ducks in the near future, but I don't have enough pictures to go along with any story, so there was work to be done. The waterfowl, however, were not going to be cooperative, so any field test of Sebastien Reeber's spectacular recent book, Waterfowl of North America, Europe, and Asia: An Identification Guide, that my friends at the Princeton University Press were good enough to send, would have to wait. Another bird, however, was not so reticent to put in an appearance. This exquisite Red-shouldered Hawk popped into view atop a phone pole along the Weekapaug coast, then perched on a snag. Unlike yesterday's hawk shot in New Haven, I came prepared with the Sigma 150-500mm supertelephoto and I captured a number of interesting views. I also had to scratch my head: our Red-shouldereds, which return to the ridge every March, left several months ago. I thought the entire species headed south for the winter. Maybe they only go a few miles south... or maybe they're already heading home.