Blue-winged Teals are dabbling ducks and often have bits of grass or duckweed hanging from their beaks or heads. The ones at Magnolia Plantation are wary of people and I mostly get photographs of them swimming away.
They do a lot of swimming in circles, creating rings of waves. If you stand still they sometimes come circling back near the shore.
When they are away from the duckweed and the light is right their reflections can be quite pretty.
Click on any photo for larger view.
The heron and egret rookery at Magnolia Plantation and Gardens is currently home to a few alligators and some turtles. Several weeks ago there were still a few Little Blue Herons and Great Egrets; none were around on Sunday. We’ll be returning periodically over the next month watching for the duck migrants then the return of the herons and egrets.
In the meantime the colors of fall were quite striking on the still water.
The tree dripping with Spanish Moss below held several Great Blue Heron nests late last winter then was taken over by various Egrets through the summer. The island with the larger trees also had multiple nests. On this day one lone Ibis was watching the swamp.
Click photos for a larger view.
The resident birds of an old mill pond in Maine that we discovered by accident entertained us along with their human neighbor who stopped by nightly as part of his evening ambulation.
A pair of Canada Geese patrolled the shore.
A Gull that seemed to be having fun playing in the water, back and forth near the dam’s edge.
A surprisingly peaceful Canada Goose vs Mallard interaction.
Near Freeport, Maine, May 2016.
Levees are not that common in Connecticut and it looks like it has been quite awhile since any water has climbed the sides of this one in Windham. Mansfield Hollow Lake is formed, or enlarged, behind the levee and the water empties through a dam into the Willimantic Reservoir.
Walk a little over a mile on the levee to come to the “end of the road” where a gate and sheer walls turn the walkers and joggers back the way they came. It’s hard to imagine the circumstances when water would overflow this structure.
Lovely water reflections made up for not seeing any birds on this December afternoon.
