A day for Ducks! Proud Mama Duck came to the backyard today to show off her ten precious ducklings. How cute is this brood? Ducklings are an unruly bunch, scattering in all directions, oblivious to the dangers that lurk. For this reason it was hard to count them until I got this pic. It seems a little early for ducks to nest. In past years, they've shown up in mid-May and June, but of course, these cute creatures are welcome anytime. Mama will have a hard time keeping up with this bunch but most duck Mothers seem to take caring for their young in stride. Congrats!!
Winter Widgeons. Yesterday was a day for ducks. Lots of rain made the lake high. Mergansers and Mallards enjoyed the rain but the highlight was a visit from a small flock of American Widgeons. I rarely see them in winter because they usually spend the cold months in Florida and Central America. Maybe the Widgeons didn’t hear the Groundhog’s prediction and are heading back to Canada expecting an early Spring. I hope they don’t leave right away and dabble in our lake for a while.
Great excitement on the lake--we have ducklings!! I spotted the Mother Duck and her brood yesterday. The babies are probably newly hatched because they are so small. I counted 14!! Mother Duck is going to be tired keeping up with them.
The tree also sports crickets, a ladybug, squirrel, and lots of bird ornaments, but I've never found an opossum ornament. Go figure. Merry Christmas to all from Georgia Backyard Nature!
The migratory ducks are arriving. This morning I spied the first Hooded Mergansers to visit the lake this year--two distinctively patterned males and a female. These diving ducks find prey underwater by sight. They have excellent underwater vision and a transparent third eyelid that protects the eye when swimming, like goggles.
I was surprised to see an odd duck swimming in the lake--charcoal grey body and a startling white beak--but it wasn't a duck at all. It was an American Coot. Even though Coots swim like ducks and have similar bills, they're really more closely related to Sandhill Cranes. Here's some video of this fascinating waterfowl.
American Coots spend their lives on or around the water. Smaller than a Mallard, they have bodies shaped like chickens. Despite their swimming prowess, their feet aren't webbed; instead, Coots have large, leaf-like feet that propel them through the water.
American Coots feed on aquatic plants, grains, and insects and crustaceans. They breed in freshwater wetlands among aquatic vegetations growing in standing water. In fact, their nests are floating structures anchored to plants.
These awesome waterfowl winter in the Southeast and breed west of the Mississippi River and Canada. I guess this one was heading home to start a family and took a break to wait out the bad weather. That was lucky for me because I've never seen an American Coot before and seeing a new bird makes it a good day!!
Being squarely in the migratory path of northern waterfowl, I never know what interesting ducks will stop at the lake on their way to sunnier places in the winter and back to northern breeding grounds in spring. Yesterday I spotted this unusual group swimming along with the Canada geese. After doing some research, I identified these dabbling ducks as Northern Shovelers. This is the first time I’ve seen them on the lake.
The female’s brown coloring resembles that of mallard females but the males are striking in appearance-- a green head, brown sides, white chest, and black and white back. However, the really distinctive characteristic is the long, spoon shaped bill.
Here are some interesting facts:
The Northern Shoveler’s bill has comb-like projections along the outer edge to filter food from the water. These ducks often forage by swimming with their bills lowered into the water, filtering out small crustaceans.
These ducks are monogamous. The female builds the nest and incubates the eggs alone. Average clutch size is 9 eggs.
Northern Shovelers breed in the northwestern quadrant of the U.S. and in northwestern Canada and winter in extreme southern U. S. and Mexico.
When I first saw these ducks, the green head of the male and the brown color of the females led me to believe they were Mallards. I’m glad I got out the binoculars, because I’d hate to miss seeing these natty dabblers.
They're back! Canada Geese disappear from the lake during August for their annual molt. They can't fly until their feathers grow back so they relocate to a spot where food is plentiful and predators are few. The geese always return around Labor Day so they're right on schedule.
Although it's been nice to walk into the backyard without worrying about angry geese attacking or stepping in goose poop, I'm still glad to see them cavorting on the lake again!
What makes a Great Blue Heron happy? How about catching a really big fish. This Heron caught some sort of big, flat fish and to be honest, I never thought he'd get it down. It took him about 15 minutes (probably waiting for it to stop flopping around) to down his meal, so the video is an edited version. In the last few seconds, you can see his distended neck as the fish slowly goes to his stomach.
Herons frequently fish in the lake, but I've never seen one in a tree. This one perched in the birch tree for about half an hour. He's got an impressive wingspan.
In the picture below you can see that there's another Heron on the sandbar. They are very territorial birds and don't hesitate to drive intruders off so I wonder if that's his mate fishing.
I really like watching Herons. Not only are they beautiful birds with a dignified demeanor, but they are also much better fishermen than most humans I know.
The goslings are almost grown and are getting their adult coloring. Sadly, one disappeared over the weekend, leaving three. I don't know what happened--whether it fell prey to a predator or sickness. I always hope that once they get bigger, they'll be safe, but that' not nature's way. Mother and Father geese did a great job raising their family. It was only about a month ago that they were just yellow fluffy babies.
Walter Reeves the Georgia Gardener Walter Reeves is the most respected garden guru in the Southeast and the author or co-author of nine books on gardening.
