John Pastore got this shot of the Mandarin Duck at the CF on a dreary Thanksgiving Eve. I'll be darned if I could find that duck.

John writes: "I stopped it at the Celery Farm Wednesday afternoon, as I got out of work early.  Making my usual first stop at Warden's Watch, there were a large number of mallards assembled.  Then I saw a duck that I knew I had never seen at the Celery Farm. 

"It was sitting on a log, just at the end of the peninsula, to the left of Warden's Watch, as to look out to the water.  It did not seem to mind when many mallards came close, and even shared it's perch on the log.  Unfortunately the light was not great, and I didn't have my largest zoom."

(Thanks, John!)

These ducks are non-native escapees/releasees, and they  pop up in the region from time to time. (And they are beautiful.)

Here are links to the Meadowlands Blog, which posted a few items about a Mandarin Duck in North Bergen earlier this year. Links are here and here.