Sunday, April 19, 2015

Anatine visitors

Ringed neck duck: although I was treated to about 30 of them last night, taking their photo was impossible. This is from wiki ("Aythya-collaris-001". Licensed under CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons - http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Aythya-collaris-001.jpg#/media/File:Aythya-collaris-001.jpg)

Our resident blue jays came to the feeder this morning

Go Blue Jays! (our high school mascot)

My friend's lake which was full of the ring neck ducks. My friends barely visible, are on the other side.
The variety of ducks we have in southern Michigan is very limited: 99% of them would be mallards with my favorite, the wood duck, occasionally spotted. However in Northern Michigan and Canada, many varieties can be seen. Last night, a flock of ringed neck ducks settled into my friend's pond (ringed beak would be more accurate). I went to the pond's edge to see them better. They swam to the other side. I walked over to that side; back they went. I had a Pharaoh hound with me that made them nervous. We had binoculars. They breed somewhere up in Canada so they were just taking a break in their migration.

Last March we were in Central Park in NYC, a favorite stopping place for migratory birds (a patch of green in miles and miles of cement). On the main lake (as it still was mainly ice) were northern shovelers, buffalo heads, and wood ducks along with the usual mallards. All except the mallards, were migrants. My friend had her hummingbird feeder filled as there is a website that tracks the cloud of hummingbirds slowly making there way from Central America back to Michigan. They are presumably close. My little hummers will be so disappointed back at the old house. My friend has also taken up bee keeping though there is nothing for the bees to eat so she has to feed them sugar water until things bloom.

It was fun as always being with the Mom's. I made a key lime pie (easy) and meringues with the left over egg whites.

I got out very early this morning to finish my bike ride before Josh came. He has to accommodate Allie's rigid nap schedule. But the earlier it is, the less traffic. Plus the wind really picked up as time went on. I am getting faster though.

1 comment:

Elephant's Child said...

Ducks are wonderful birds aren't they? I always smile to see them. And marvel at their beauty.

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