There was a brief, but brilliant sun break here in Tacoma today, and I decided that I would end the Old Year doing what I love best, walking around taking pictures of birds in the sunshine.

Of course, I knew that since it was Christmas break and this was the first real sunshine we’ve had that there was going to be alot of people out and a lot less birds than usual. So, I was almost prepared for it when I went to nearby Titlow park and encountered two boys running a screaming racing car through the park trails.

Needless to say, ducks were even shyer than usual, and I didn’t see anything that I haven’t seen many times before. Still, I found it impossible to be disappointed by what I did see, including several pairs of Widgeons:

and several Hooded Mergansers. And the female Hooded Merganser still strikes me as a most elegant lady: