All taken within a mile from the house last evening. I’d appreciate if someone would tell what the duck is in the last picture.
Click photos for full size.
Another of the Horned Grebe. What a cool little bird.
All taken within a mile from the house last evening. I’d appreciate if someone would tell what the duck is in the last picture.
Click photos for full size.
Another of the Horned Grebe. What a cool little bird.
Spectacular photos. Sorry, can’t help with the duck question. What’s the duck in the top picture? That seems unusual to me.
Horned grebe. I stopped at a slough by the road, thinking there was nothing there. Started taking pics of cattails (yawn) and it swam into view. I got a lot of cool shots of it.
Kate – My guess was going to be experimental migratory bat from Wuhan lab, but what do I know.
PS – Heard you on Gormley. Much nicer speaking voice than Mark Steyn’s lol.
Curious as to what Body/Lens combo you use KAte..?
Or are these iPhone pics.?
NICE Pics…!!!
The last one is a teal duck. These ducks prefer to feed along the surface of the water as opposed to tipping up, but they will tip up occasionally. Teals are popular with waterfowl hunters, and they are carefully managed as game birds. Species include the cinnamon, green-winged, blue-winged, and silver teal.
Yes, it is a male blue winged teal. This duck requires old woodpecker nests in wood lots to nest. Much like a wood duck, it has babies that leap down and waddle off to water. Unfortunately, this lovely little duck is in trouble due to habitat loss.
I agree, Blue-Winged Teal
Blue wing teal duck.
Wonderful photos, thank you for posting them.
Yes, great photos and gorgeous birds. Thanks.
Wow. Beautiful birds. Exotic grebe … but that little teal is so cool. It’s got everything (colorwise). Those would be new birds on my life list. What a perk of living where you do Kate.
Come visit Kenji. If you can stand a bit of -40 here and there its way better than California is now.
Put the greeb’s mating dance on your bucket list. You know how some ducks run along the top of the water for a bit on take off? Well that is mostly what the greebs mating dance consists of. The interloping male approaches the pair and the defending male places him self between and the interloper trys to go around by running/flying faster than the defender. They usually run 500 to 800 yds. Talk about it a bit while they turn around and do it again in the opposite direction. I’ve never seen it last less than three runs. More usually 10 to, oh darn I lost count. Who wears out first is the looser. Winner gets the girl. Sometimes three or four pairs doing it up and down the inlet I used to live on at the same time. Spectacular!
Nice.
Duck Duck Goose
Grey duck….
Great photos. Showed these to Jack, our corgi/Nova Scotia duck toller cross, and he likes them too.
Cute birds. Now for the important question everyone failed to ask, what’s the best way to cook them?
The best way to cook duck is over the old briquettes most people don’t even know what that is anymore.As far as shooting a teal better lead it about 8 feet they are extremely fast.
If you use 2 3/4”mag.#4 shot you can cut that lead in half Terry, and remember you must decrease your lead as the bird turns toward or away from you and they are nearly always turning, really hard to hit. Is that why they taste so good?
Beautiful. Looking forward to killing as many of these for pleasure as I can come fall.
How many blackbirds do you need for a pie? I’ve always wondered.
Supposedly four-and-twenty, at least if you’re royalty. We plebs are probably supposed to do with fewer.
Nice shots, Kate!
The Mad Professor Duck?
Great pics
The Shoveller is gorgeous, but it’s a Blue Wing Teal you’re asking about.
I thought that was a mallard. Shows what I know.
I thought it was a mallard with a clown-bill … 🙂
I didn’t know what the duck it was either.
What are you using camera-wise?
I think that the 5th photo is that of a Bluebill.
The Shoveler has the same colours as a Mallard, the giveaway is the distinctive beak.
That duck is either a Rose-butted Scheer Dabbler or a Toole-billed Floor Puddler. It’s very hard to tell the difference.
Biologists are worried about the long term survival of both species.
They suffer alarmingly high mortality rates every 4 years during migrations because they continue to follow their flock leaders into Liberal traps.
I don’t know how many blackbirds you would need to make a pie but a hunting buddy and I ate about 30 one time. Roasted, very tasty.
Same thing for the blue-winged teal. They are one of the first ducks to leave in early fall. They are fat and delicious on the Webber
First duck could be a hooded Merganser according to my Birds of Alberta book.
The last duck in the picture is the same as the first one.
Yer welcome.
:-b
Looks like a Great Crested grebe