Gadwall

Photo by Ken Nanney

Gadwall with ducklings. July 9, 1993 (First sighting June 19, 1993). Stock tank near Millers Creek Lake. Weinert 079 Breeding Bird Survey. Throckmorton County.
I first sighted a Gadwall hen with a brood of small ducklings and another nearby adult female Gadwall on this pond at a stop of the Weinert BBS route. Returning to the site three weeks later I found the original female with her surviving larger ducklings (pictured) and the second hen now had a brood of small ducklings of her own. A follow up trip very late in the summer found no Gadwalls at the stock tank. A lone adult male Gadwall had been seen flying very near this same stock tank on the previous year's BBS. As far as I know this is the first documented breeding record for this species in North Central Texas and one of the few for the state as a whole [Ken Nanney].