First Buffleheads I've seen this season,

[elleng]

southern MD.

[soothsayer]

1. Oh wow

Never seen nor heard of em

[elleng]

2. Neither had I, until a few years ago they appeared in my front 'yard!'

The bufflehead is a small sea duck of the genus Bucephala, the goldeneyes. This species was first described by Carl Linnaeus in his landmark 1758 10th edition of Systema Naturae as Anas albeola. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bufflehead

[soothsayer]

3. Pretty darling!

Are they mallard sized, or...?

[elleng]

5. Smaller.

The bufflehead ranges from 32–40 cm (13–16 in) long and weighs 270–550 g (9.5–19.4 oz), with the drakes larger than the females. Averaging 35.5 cm (14.0 in) and 370 g (13 oz), it rivals the green-winged teal as the smallest American duck. The bufflehead has a wingspan of 21.6 in (55 cm).[5]

[soothsayer]

6. Cute!

[elleng]

8. They do this cute 'flit,' too;

a friend got a pic. Hope I do. Storm's coming in, so may be a while.

These diving birds forage underwater. They prefer water depths of 1.2–4.5 m (3.9–14.8 ft).

[DURHAM D]

4. I saw one of these with a flock of Canadian honkers the other day.

Had no idea what it was Thanks for this post/pic.

[elleng]

7. You're welcome. I had no idea how many varieties of ducks there are, until

I moved here beside a river and got a camera! Often see 'honkers' too, but haven't seen any today.

[drmeow]

9. Haven't seen any yet

one the lake behind our house in Richmond area, only Cormorants and Canada Geese.

[elleng]

10. Have also seen Canada Geese and mallards,

on creek behind my house in southern MD.