Today was one of those stunningly beautiful days that take your breath away and make you happy to be alive.
We took a walk down to Lake Washington and under a tree just off the dock at the Water Activites Center at UW, we found this little family of ducks.
If you look very carefully, you can see mama behind the tall grass on the right (her bill is sticking out near the top of a blade of grass).
She then herded her brood into a different area of their little marsh.
keeping an eye out for predators (we watched her shoo away a crow that got too close; Unfortunately, I missed that shot).
Of course mama had to eat, too. (Remember that, you have to take care of yourself first in order to have the strength to take care of others.)
Time for some more exploring
Mama came over to check us out. (she didn't seem to be too stressed out by our presence, but then we tried to stay as quiet as possible. We settled in and watched them for a good hour)
There were male ducks there as well
they spent a lot of time bathing and grooming
for the most part, mama was letting the ducklings explore more than she was herding them. But she wouldn't let them get too far away.
Sunday, May 04, 2008
Duck Watching
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2 comments:
Nice duck pictures. The shot with drakes has 2 Mallards (about as common as a wild duck gets) but the one on top is a "Shoveler" See http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/duckdist/shoveler.htm which is a neat thing to photograph, but not so good to eat.
you're such a duck nerd! Admit it, you tried to shoot them with your finger... you can't fool me.
The whole afternoon, watching them interact, was really cool to watch.
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