Saturday Critters #640

During my most recent visit to Lake of the Lilies, 

the lake had thawed but some of the winter ducks were still hanging around.

The lake itself is lined with a curated collection of pretty, unique, custom built homes, 

that defy the cookie cutter standard.

- Male Bufflehead Duck -

A small sea duck that breeds in Alaska & Canada and migrates in winter to Northern North America.

- Female Bufflehead Duck -

- Lesser Scaup -

A small North American diving duck that migrates as far south as Central America.

It is also known as the "Little Bluebill" because of its distinctive blue bill.

- Hooded Merganser -

The Hooded Merganser, this is the female, is a species of fish eating duck.

The duck is striking in appearance, both sexes have crests that they can raise or lower. 

- Common Merganser -

A large sea duck living in rivers and lakes that eats primarily fish.

- Male and Female Mallard Duck -

A common dabbling duck that thrives in wetlands.

Mallards are very social ducks that feed on water plants or small animals.

We see them here year round.

Sharing today images with Eileen at 

Viewing Nature With Eileen 

for Saturdays Critters

Bits & Bobs...

I wasn't sure what "Bits & Bobs" meant, so I "googled" it...

 "Bits & Bobs"

 is a common British idiom referring to small, miscellaneous items, 

odds and ends or various minor tasks...that's great, perfect for today's post.

If you have followed my blog for any length of time, 

you know I print my blog into a hard covered book about every three months.

The company I was using stopped offering the service and in my search to find another, I discovered

PixxiBook

This company has been great in all areas, layout, picture size, color 

and the quality of the cover and pages.

The only drawback, 

I find the website a little difficult to navigate but their customer support is outstanding.

Inside...

You give them the dates you want to include in your book, and they do everything else.

They lay out each page and design the cover.

On average, one book, which includes 3 months, costs about $ 120.00 or less.

The pages are not numbered,

 but in the above picture you get an idea of the thickness of each book.

Next up...

Butterflies Watercolor Coating Book

8 of the pages have penciled drawings of butterflies.

Also included are 8 blank pages.

Contained in the spine of the book is a paint brush/pen that you fill with water.

With that, you wet the paints that are on the left.

These are the instructions they provide.

I was excited to share this with you guys, I have not tried it yet but I will keep you posted.

There are 6 different themes and they can be purchased on Amazon.

I have been coloring in this book as well.

I finished coloring my birds and started the butterfly.