Saturday, December 3, 2016

Saturday Critters ~ 155 ~

As the ducks migrate for Winter, many stop over here,
or have settled in our area for the Winter.

If I were them, I would have continued flying, our Winters can get pretty darn cold.
Florida's just not that far off in duck flying miles.

Ruddy Duck
showing off his Winter wear.

Looking closely, the duck in the center is a 
Bufflehead

And the Hooded Merganser's are back, I have seen them before but only over Winter.

Here the Merganser's were hanging with the American Coot's.
It was a large group, not everyone is in the picture.

On this day, the ladies were easier to photograph.

She made a few passes back and forth, before joining the pack.

The boys seem to be sleeping, is this sleeping mode??
They all had their heads turned backward and tucked, just like the three pictured.

So - funny story -
While trying to get some "closer" images, the hubs noticed what appeared to be an abandon house.
Several are still abandon from Super Storm Sandy...
so we drove around to the house, I jumped out and wandered around to the back yard.
Unfamiliar with the property and it's "high's and lows" 
I almost ended up "in" the water trying to get closer to the ducks.
The moral of the story -
don't wander around alone, in some abandon back yard or you'll end up "in the drink".
That's what the hubs always says.

Sharing today's images with 
Eileen at Viewing Nature With Eileen 

Lake of the Lilies November 26, 2016

24 comments:

Latane Barton said...

Oh, Debbie, so glad you didn't end up in the drink!! the pictures are great. I have the mersangers on the pond at my place now. Like you say, I don't see them except in winter. I wonder where they do their summer thing? Have a great day, girl.

Christine said...

The things we do trying to get closer to nature for photographs but glad you didn't end up in it!
Lovely photos of ducks we don't see very much of here.
Happy Saturday!

Lowcarb team member said...

Glad you didn't end up in the water!
Lovely series of photographs again ... love the 'ladies hair'!

Happy Weekend Wishes

All the best Jan

baili said...

i loved these water beauties .
you capturing is amazing .
loved the lady merganser most ,so cute

Margaret Birding For Pleasure said...

Is it Debbie that the ducks stay over in your part of the world and these are lovely photographs. I hope you have a wonderful weekend

Brian King said...

Nice variety of beautiful ducks! We get mergansers and coots here in the winter, too, but I haven't seen any buffleheads. The important thing is you DIDN'T end up getting wet! :-)

Author R. Mac Wheeler said...

sweet, sweet critters

stay dry and warm :)

Jenn Jilks said...

I miss the duckies!!!

Karen Lakis said...

A nice collection of ducks - that lady is having quite a good hair day! I'm always amazed by the birds that stay in our area over the winter - I think that if I lived outdoors like that, I'd keep flying south.

Nancy Chan said...

You have so many types of ducks over at your place. I love to see these beautiful ducks. It is like they too have their head fashion. I am glad you didn't get wet!

Adam said...

cool ducks

Kim said...

If I was a duck I most certainly would fly to warmer waters. =) Gorgeous photos, Debbie. So glad you didn't go for a swim!

Devilish Angel said...

Ducks look very cool & relaxed in water. Cute pics...

carol l mckenna said...

That'll teach ya ~ glad you are safe and dry ~ Lovely duck photography ~ beautiful!

Wishing you a fun weekend ~ ^_^

Ruth Hiebert said...

Amazing pictures of these ducks.Yes,do be careful, it's much easier to take pictures from on shore than from in the water. :)

eileeninmd said...

Hello Debbie, your ducks photos are wonderful. I love the Mergansers, Coots, Ruddy and the Bufflehead. I am glad you did not end up in the water. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Happy Saturday, enjoy your weekend!

Anonymous said...

Great images! They are beautiful birds.

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

You took such amazing photos...it's like looking at the ducks up close! We were on the lookout for migrating birds today on our hike and saw one flock of storks fly over...high in the sky! Hugs!

CherryPie said...

Beautiful photos :-)

The Furry Gnome said...

Interesting little flock of ducks, and good pictures.

Laura. M said...

Amazing pictures. They are happy in the water.
Besos.

Breathtaking said...

Hello Debbie!:) Wow! Such great photographs of these gorgeous ducks. The Lake of the Lilies has a fabulous array of ducks. The Hooded Mergansers are my favourite, both male and female are so attractive. So glad you didn't get wet. I once fell into a stream trying to get closer to some dragonflies, and my hubby had to help me up and out of the water, although I got some great shots of the dragonflies, I won't take chances again, as I could have ended up down stream, if hubby hadn't been there.!!:)))

Conniecrafter said...

I haven't seen those ducks before they are so cool, I like how the one wanted to get some solo shoots before joining the others :) You better be careful girl, Greg went out on a photo shoot a few days ago and ended up falling down a ditch, saved his camera though but his knees were quite bloody.

LeAnn said...

I always enjoy your duck photos. I am interested in the ducks that appear to be sleeping. I am happy you didn't get wet trying to take the photos. You do love getting the close-ups. Hugs~