On the Thursday before the latest Storm of the Century of the Week began, Kurt Bond from State DFW and  I checked the Black Duck land trap along Ocean Drive around 5pm. I scanned the ponds and saw at least 500 black ducks, most of which were sitting on the edge of the ice about 100 yards from the road.  There were also good numbers of Widgeons, Buffleheads, Hooded Mergansers, Mallards, Canada Geese and Brant.  Four Pied-billed Grebes were diving right at the culvert under Ocean Drive, and have been regular visitors there for the past week or so.  A pair of Gadwalls fed in the creek on the north side of the road. 
   It was just starting to get dark, but from the road we could see at least one duck in the trap.  As we got closer, it turned out to be three pintails, two drakes and a hen.  We managed to corral them into the removable basket and checked them out.  Kurt showed me some of the individual feathers on the wing that showed the difference between adult and juvenile Pintails.  These subtle differences in shading and color were hard for me to see even with the bird in my hand, and must be almost impossible to spot from a distance by even expert birders.  Before we let them go, we took a couple photos which I will post as soon as I get them from Kurt.  This was my first "Duck in the Hand."  It was certainly worth two in the bush.