The male harlequin duck in many of these photos was wintering in the harbor at Monterey, California in 2007-2008.   Harlequins are small, elegantly-marked ducks that breed on fast-flowing streams and rivers; they are unusual this far south.  One photo (with grass) is a captive.   Pictures of another male and a female are here.

• Canon 1D Mk II or 1D3, 500 mm f4 IS lens with 2X converter fill-in flash (2006, 2007)