Harlequin Ducks Moraine Lake

after walking to the end of the lake in the rain it got heavier as we walked back but two pairs of Harlequins had finished fighting and were at on the exposed gravel-- allowing close approach was perhaps the best term - at one point one pair swam towards and past me within 10 feet - impressing Julia even without bins -- one of the pairs was colour ringed part of a study of birds in the Rockies based on the Bow River Valley -- it takes a certain type of duck to shine in the torrential rain