"The Decoy" (20 x 14 in.), $950.00

We were headed down a creek by boat as the early morning July sun cast out hues of gold on our way to the adjoining lake in northwestern Ontario when we spotted a blue-winged teal family out for a swim up ahead. As soon as she saw us, the hen gave orders for her little ones to scatter for cover from possible approaching danger as she continued to swim ahead of us. She was the decoy, an age-old trick like the broken-wing trick in hopes we would follow her while the newly hatched ducklings hid nearby in the safety of tall grass. When we got within 30 feet she jumped up and flew about a block ahead of us to draw us away from her young. The ducklings were small enough to be only a day old and when the boat approached her once again, she jumped up to repeat the same process. She did this four times and the last time she made a big circle to the left to get back to her flock. I knew in her mind she figured she had fooled us again. A good mother, a good decoy.