Taking the road less travelled, 3rd December 2014 - 13 x Freckled ducks

Freckled Ducks (foreground), Louth Park December 2013

The Road Not Taken - Robert Frost

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,

And sorry I could not travel both

And be one traveler, long I stood

And looked down one as far as I could

To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair

And having perhaps the better claim,

Because it was grassy and wanted wear;

Though as for that the passing there

Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay

In leaves no step had trodden black.

Oh, I kept the first for another day!

Yet knowing how way leads on to way,

I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:

Two roads diverged in a wood, and I —

I took the one less traveled by, 

And that has made all the difference.

I have always enjoyed taking the road less travelled by.  And on this particular day it certainly made all the difference.

I was driving home from work on 3rd December 2013, and took the least travelled way I could find - as is my want.  I happened to glance at the waterfowl on a small dam next to the road in Louth Park, and noticed something different about them.  Naturally I headed back to have a closer look, and found to my delight, 13 Freckled ducks foraging on the margin.  They were extremely flighty, and I was quite lucky to grab a couple of quick "voucher" shots before they all took off.  I recorded the sighting with the Atlas of Living Australia.