Full Circle Waterfowling.....Pt. I

This drake wood duck photo, submitted by Ron Grazioplena of Batavia, was also touched up a bit around the eye in order to better display the likeness of an old friend of Ron's. 

In the mid-nineties Ron was doing his best to enhance the lives of wood ducks and other waterfowl inhabiting a 30 acre marsh, a family-owned piece of property. With help from his father, the late Mario Grazioplena, Ron erected a series of wood duck nesting boxes. It was during this time period that the little wood duck with the peculiar white markings on its face became a regular visitor to the marsh. The first time he saw the duck, Ron immediately noticed the unique markings around its eyes. The markings, in the form of white piping entirely circling the eye, were were common for hen wood ducks, not males.    

Each day, when Ron tossed dry feed to the feathered inhabitants of the marsh, the "woodie" was on hand to enjoy the handout. Ron became fond of the little wood duck with the strange markings, even giving him a name. Ron called him "Blaze."  For several weeks Blaze was a regular visitor to the marsh. Then, one day, just like that the little duck failed to show up. Next day same thing. When a week passed and still no sign of Blaze, Ron figured his little buddy had either migrated south or shot by a hunter

Weeks passed, the first half of the split duck season closed, Thanksgiving had come and gone and Ron had all but forgotten about the little wood duck. The morning of December 25th found Ron standing along the southwest corner of the marsh, giving the ducks a  Christmas morning handout. He was tossing cracked corn to the marsh inhabitants when a wood duck with strange but familiar markings swam toward him. It was Blaze!

Ron's little buddy had returned. Not surprisingly, the unexpected Christmas morning visit provided a moving moment. And while there is no way of knowing for certain, perhaps Blaze had been hatched right there on the family's marsh - in one of the wood duck nesting boxes erected by Ron and his father.

To fully appreciate the above-mentioned account, one  needs to go back in time, to the fall of 1962, Ron's first hunting season. Stay tuned for Full Circle Waterfowling....Pt. II