On Wednesday we made the rounds...checking all the familiar watering holes in
Point Pleasant that we frequent regularly.
First was Lake of the Lilies where I hit the jackpot seeing both a
Male and Female Wood Duck
The couple has been here all winter but they are so difficult to photograph.
I first saw them resting on the shoreline but as the car approached, they started to swim off.
They are good, quick swimmers.
I also spotted several Male Greater Scaup
There were a lot of Mallards, we see them year round here and they are easy to photograph.
American Coots were large in numbers as well.
The coot is a plump, chicken like bird with a rounded head and a slumping bill.
Next we headed to the inlet and I saw a lot of Loons.
This is a Common Loon
This is a young First Winter Loon,
you can see that the feather pattern/coloring is different.
I noticed that this Loon was different from the others when I was taking the pictures...
my bird book helped me to identify the differences.
There is a Pacific Loon here at the inlet.
In doing my research, I did see one picture that looked similar to this,
but I am leaning towards it being a First Winter Loon.
It is very rare to have a Pacific Loon here on the east coast.
The Long Tailed ducks were abundant as well,
this is the male...
this is the female.
They are diving ducks and the water here at the inlet is very choppy,
making these ducks very difficult to photograph.
The side spot on this female looks like a heart.
On the way home we stopped at Gull Island and we saw a lot of
Bufflehead Ducks
swimming in the center of the water, of course, making it impossible to get a good picture.
The sun was in and out on this day,
most pictures are not awesome but it was a very fun "duck hunt"!
Sharing today with
The sun was in and out on this day,
most pictures are not awesome but it was a very fun "duck hunt"!
Sharing today with
24 comments:
Your second image of a Loon is a Common Loon starting to acquire breeding plumage. Nice series of pictures of all this waterfowl. I lead a trip annually to the North Shore of Lake Ontario and will be doing sk a week from today. With the exception of the Common Loon we should see all the species you depict, and if we are really lucky there might even be a Loon.
Hi again Debbie: I should also have mentioned that there is no such species as a First Winter Loon. The descriptive term "first winter" refers to the plumage of a bird in the first winter if its life, in other words after hatching, from which it will moult into adult plumage the following spring. You may also see adult plumage described as breeding plumage or definitive basic plumage or alternate plumage. All of this is probably more than you ever wanted to know!
Nice shots. Love watching wildlife in their environment!
That's my kind of duck hunt! Love when you can get the male and female in the same shot! And the heart is extra special! Enjoy your weekend! We went to Rainbow Springs yesterday....I'll be working on pics today! lol Hugs!
All such beautiful colors, Debbie! You sure have a knack for photography; although I think I've told you that but it bears repeating. :)
xoxo
You are fortunate to have such a great variety! Wood Ducks and mallards are the only ones out of your photos that I've seen. The loon is beautiful!
Fantastic photos of our 'feathered friends' ~ love the ones of them 'checking you out.' ~ Delightful!
Happy Day to you,
A ShutterBug Explores,
aka (A Creative Harbor)
Hello, Debbie! Wonderful variety of ducks. I love the Loon images. The Wood Duck pair are beautiful. All your photos are wonderful.
Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend. PS, thank also for leaving me a comment.
WOW!Just wonderful!
Wonderful photos!!!
Have a nice weekend
Hugs
Maria
Divagar Sobre Tudo um Pouco
Amazing shots!
That one is looking straight at you!
Great photos Debbie, some of them have quite the expressions and a lot of showing off for a few!
Especially the one going under water, they are just a delight to watch. I always get the sense they want to show just what they can do!
Nice birds. Many of them live in my region also!
Some really great wildfowl there. The Greater Scaup is very fine indeed, but I always have a soft spot for the Loons.
Sometimes a less than perfect picture is better than none at all. These all look good to me. I am so ready for some of these birds to show up in Manitoba, but first we need to have the lakes thaw.
I was just going to say that this must have been a fun day collecting pictures of all these different ducks and then that is the way you ended your post. That is so cool to have seen so many different ones.
They are all so pretty!
Doing the rounds certainly paid off by the look of your beautiful photographs
Spectacular! Just ducky! Great photos!
These ducks look hand painted. LOL I have never seen such pretty ducks and so many. Bless you, xoxo, Susie
What a wonderful variety of ducks.
I enjoyed all of your photographs.
All the best Jan
Well in my opinion these are spectacular bird photos. You really caught some great shots of some unique birds, I haven’t seen before ever. It sounds like one or two were really exciting for you to find. There was such a variety of them all. I loved the diving ducks and how their colors is arranged. The little heart is awesome. Nature is so beatufiul and I love how you mange to love it and put take photos of it.
Sending love, and hugs your way!
Preciosas fotos, el agua hace unas formas fantásticas.
Besos.
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