Saturday, November 27, 2021

Saturday's Critters #415

 I have been visiting all of the local lakes and a lot of the winter ducks have arrived.
I am so excited to see them but most swim in the center of the lake...
- come on guys, what's up with that -
making it very difficult to get good pictures.
I have taken 100's of pictures, most not worth sharing, but the joy in seeing them is undeniable.

These images are from our first stop
Spring Lake
This is not a typical stop for us but we decided to branch out and be adventurous.
This paid off as these are the first Hooded Mergansers I have seen this winter.
My book says they are present here year round but I only see then during the winter.
It was a thrill!

I love this picture because you can see the markings in his feathers.

I like this picture because you can see how the 
Male Hooded Merganser's look, 
hood up and hood down.

It was a fairly big group, at least 20.

Male Merganser

Female Merganser


Couples


This is one of my favorite winter ducks.
I don't know what duck in the center is, if anyone else does, please let me know.

Next we went to Lake of the Lilies...

I saw a lot of American Wigeon, both male and female.
The males have the green on it's head.

I also saw a lot of what I believe to be Lesser Scaups.
It is difficult for me to tell the difference between the Lesser and Greater Scaups.
This is the male.

Female Lesser Scaup


This is Lake of the Lilies.
A huge, beautiful lake with gorgeous clouds on this day.
The swans are still here which is surprising, they left last winter and there were a lot of Ruddy ducks.
As of now, the Wood Ducks have not returned!

Sharing today's images with Eileen at 
for Saturday Critters

15 comments:

Sandi said...

Ahh...beautiful.

eileeninmd said...

Hello, Debbie
The Hooded Mergansers are one of my favorites. I hope to see some this winter. This lake must be a popular place for the waterfowl. I like seeing the swans too. All your duck photos are wonderful, great sightings. Thank you for linking up and sharing your post. Take care, have a happy weekend! PS, thank you for leaving me a comment!

Kay said...

I'm always in awe of your amazing wildlife photos, Debbie. Hope you're having a wonderful holiday time.

Lowcarb team member said...

A lovely lake and I enjoyed seeing all of the ducks.
Have a lovely weekend :)

All the best Jan

The Furry Gnome said...

Great photos!

Ruth Hiebert said...

Gorgeous photos. Those Mergansers are a pretty bird.

Conniecrafter said...

I know your excitement of seeing them and so many at that, you ended up getting some good pics. Digital was one of the greatest finds, can you believe trying to get a picture and having to get all the photos developed and they don't come out. You sure do find some neat varieties of ducks, we don't seem to have that here

Linda said...

Great shots! It's rare that I get a picture of mergansers. They are interesting beauties.

DrumMajor said...

Beautiful! I didn't know ducks could "flip their lids." Very interesting. When raised, they look like little marionette's hats. Thanks for taking us on your lake tour! Linda in Kansas

Debbie said...

"flip their lids"!!! now that's a good one!! they do look like little marionette hats!! have a wonderful sunday linda!!

~Lavender Dreamer~ said...

I haven't seen a merganser in a long time...how unique they are! I'm like you...I take a LOT of photos but you just never know which ones will turn out good. You saw some beautiful ducks! Happy Sunday!

Yvonne said...

Wow! What beautiful photos you have taken of the winter ducks. Wishing you a lovely Sunday.

Karen @ Beatrice Euphemie said...

So many beautiful ducks! So nice that they stay for the winter, too. Great photos! x K

Brian King said...

Love the Hoodies! They visit here in winter, but are always in the middle of the lake. I've never seen Scaups or Wigeons here.

LeAnn said...

You always take the best bird photos ever. I still think you need to do a book of bird photos. The Lake of Lilly seems like such a beautiful place to visit. I loved your photos today.
Big hugs!