And a photobombing turtle!
One of them was fanning her tail feathers in quite a display.
I’m assuming they are female but it is possible that one or all of them are juvenile males, not females.
A lone male Hooded Merganser was on the other side of the pond but he opted not to check this trio out up close.
Cypress Wetlands, Port Royal, SC
February 27, 2023
A big snack!
Some kind of a tadpole from the shape and way bigger than the duck’s mouth.
So big she took it for a ride before trying to swallow it, and slapped it in the water a couple of times.
Two other Mergansers that were following along so she changed course. Shortly after this image she swallowed it.
Cypress Wetlands, Port Royal, SC
February 27, 2023
Despite the green patch seen in the middle duck here, these are Blue-winged Teals.
A slight shift of the wing and you can see just the powder blue patch, and the more distinctive white patch on the male’s head.
This trio had all been either feeding or bathing.
A good shake put the feathers to rights.
Orlando Wetlands, Christmas, FL
January 18, 2023
Orlando Wetlands Park is 1650 acres of man-made wetland designed to provide advanced treatment for reclaimed water from the City of Orlando and other local cities.
Just a short distance from the Black-bellied Whistling Duck Kerfuffle that I posted last week a few small groups were calmly hanging out.
This floating mat of vegetation was solid enough to hold up the ducks but there was water around their feet.
This fellow was doing his own thing, sort of hiding in some taller grass.
In this group, one duck was on high alert, one was sort of alert and the rest were snoozing.
Orlando Wetlands, Christmas, FL
January 18, 2023
Orlando Wetlands Park is 1650 acres of man-made wetland designed to provide advanced treatment for reclaimed water from the City of Orlando and other local cities.
In flight the Black-bellied Whistling Duck shows off a snazzy wing pattern.
This one opted to leave the pack and head off on his own for a bit…
showing off that bright bill, which will look more pink in breeding season.
Orlando Wetlands, Christmas, FL
January 18, 2023
Orlando Wetlands Park is 1650 acres of man-made wetland designed to provide advanced treatment for reclaimed water from the City of Orlando and other local cities.
Several groups of 10-20 Black-bellied Whistling Ducks were scattered around the first pond at Orlando Wetlands. Most of them were resting or quietly feeding. Then there was this group.
They were creating quite a flap, one or two flying straight up a few feet then wham, dropping into the middle of the group.
It seems too early in the year to be a breeding/territory thing. And there appeared to be plenty of food to go around.
A couple of Coots were unperturbed by the action.
Orlando Wetlands, Christmas, FL
January 18, 2023
Ted and I just came back from six days in Florida. We had wonderful weather and photographed a wide variety of birds. There were hundreds and hundreds of Coots, and they show up in a lot of my images.
Merritt Island National Wildlife Refuge, Florida
January 19, 2023
I haven’t seen many ducks yet this winter. This lone Blue-winged Teal was paddling around in the duck weed in a small pond near the swamp.
Magnolia Plantation & Gardens, Charleston, SC
January 9, 2023
Blue-winged Teal were among the ducks sheltering in the old rice field ponds on Cat Island.
A number of patrolling Bald Eagles sent groups of ducks into the air over the hour or so we were in the area.
Tom Yawkey Wildlife Center, SC
November 22, 2022
Another odd gathering of birds at the rice field pond that has been drained in preparation for repairs and a controlled burn.
Northern Shoveler and four YellowlegsMagnolia Plantation and Gardens, Charleston, SC
November 3, 2022
