Birbs of Saskatchetoon - Norther Shoveler

I'd almost forgotten about this one. 

I spotted them a few weeks ago on Monday, 18 April 2022 - same day as the Western Meadowlark. I'd noted them while waiting for the light at Preston and Research Drive. At first glance I thought they were Mallards. A moment later I realized they weren't Mallards, but couldn't remember their names, so I took a couple quick pictures so I could look it up later, and then the traffic light turned green and I shoved my camera away and carried on my way. Probably because I was so excited about having finally seen a meadowlark up close I  COMPLETELY FORGOT ABOUT THESE until I was going through and deleting photos from the last few weeks... 

There were a few of them just paddling around in what amounted to a large puddle of melting snow in a low-lying part of a field.

The greenish head made me think Mallard..

But the body colours were different and the bill was longer and dark in colour... 

Northern Shoveler in the Birbs of Saskatchetoon Sketchbook. 

I'm getting a bit behind with these. This last week has been very busy with the birbspotting - I've seen a DOZEN new birds! need to do at least two a day toI'm going to shoot for doing two a day until I get caught up. So, expect the Common Loon later today!