The Duck Has Landed

Thanks to my new friend Les Houser (who is a bird genius, has a wonderful blog about birding with great photos, and has a duck genius friend) I know what my mystery duck is: A Lesser Scaup!!! I am so excited! They are in Ohio during migration and possibly part of the winter in spots. A beautiful duck is the lesser scaup and I hope to get to see more of them! Thanks to everyone for the help! And especially to Les and his friend! Thank you!

Sorry I can’t give credit to the photo, it was in Google images under the site of The NRDC, but when I click on their site I don’t see the photo. But that’s from whence it came. So whoever took it, ©by you and good job!

Duck Duck Goose

Ok, so here are 2 photos (actually I added a third of a close-up of a Canadian Goose I took): the first is the mystery duck. The second and third are the Canadian Goose. I don’t take many photos of them because they are EVERYWHERE here. Also they are usually flying really high in the air. I remember when they were not (not flying high, not here in Ohio). Weird how things like that happen. Anyway, the goose photo stinks, but is for ID purposes. Notice the neck length and size vs the big body. The ducks (1st photo) are small and were making a kind of whistling sound and flying around fast and swirl-y. Kind of like sea birds in a way. They are smaller than a mallard. Maybe crow sized? They might even go underwater to fish like loons do, as I have seen little duck/birds doing that on Alum Creek, but they were far away, it was last summer and it felt like looking at the Loch-Ness Monster, but I digress.  You can click on the photos for a closer view. 😉 Let me know if you know what the ducks are.

I Have a Duck Question

Can anyone tell what kind of ducks these are? Tonight I had my back turned to the water for a moment and heard this weird sound, almost like a buzzing (thinking, “”Huh? It is way too cold for a bee or something…”) when I turned and it was a group of ducks flying kind of close to me. They were small, fast, and look black and white. Their beak looks dark as well. I have never seen them before, and would love to know what they are. They kept circling; I think they wanted to land where I was standing with the Juni, the dog. Thank you in advance for your help!

Formation

These Canadian Geese came flying towards me from afar…..flying flying flying honking….they were heading in the direction of a big lake…then they decided to do a u-turn and go back to where they came from, two broke off and went an entirely different direction. I wonder what they were thinking? I know I was thinking “don’t poop” as they flew over my head! And they were close! This is not a long lens (24-105). Maybe it is where the term “Silly Goose” came from. I’ve seen pigeons fly in big swooping circles, landing and taking off from a rooftop. They look like they are having fun. These Geese were doing something else. Maybe they didn’t like the two that took off separately and were playing a mean trick on them. Who knows?

Weekly Photo Challenge: Threes

This morning was beautiful! We had a storm pass through and wash away most of our snow. Today is really windy with some wonderful clouds!

In my triptych is a crow that I was following with the camera. Crows are such smart creatures. I love them! Later I had a big hawk in my backyard, but I wasn’t “ready” for that. IOW, my shutter speed was too slow and my lens too short. Here is what I got as he swooped with grace trying to eat one of my songbirds.

An Evening with Juni

The clouds were exciting today, and Juni and I took a long adventure at Alum Creek. It was a bit chilly, the ice sounded like wind chimes in the waves. Juni was pulling here and there, and wanted to get leaves dancing across the ice. Silly dog would have had an icy bath had I ever let go. I think he likes his newfound adventures. He likes watching the birds fly around, too. After we left a huge owl flew past the car! I saw where it landed and took its picture. It was 40 minutes after sundown so the picture stinks, but wow! I don’t see owls very often. In fact it has been 2 years since I have seen any, and then it was really only a glimpse as the pair I startled in the woods flew away from me, no shot at all. All in all, a great evening with my pal.

Weekly Photo Challenge: Joy (II)

Driving around in Hocking Hills I see 2 birds flying above and what?!?! They are bald eagles! I couldn’t believe it! I pulled over and they flew around a few minutes, letting me enjoy their flight for a while! In my whole life (47 years) I have seen one other in Ohio, and it was fast and far, and kept going farther. The other time was in Alaska, but I never got any good shots, even though our campsite was on its flight path. If only I had the shot of the eagle carrying a fish! Oh well, we all have “the one that got away” stories. It was pure joy seeing the eagles.

 

‘Tis the Season

I am not a multitasker and the craziness of all I have to do and remember is making me very foggy headed. These skies may be repeats, but they are meant as breathing room, a pause for calm. I wish you all peace and calm this holiday season. ❤

Birds of a Feather

I found this feather~ Moisture underneath it created such a cool pattern. Very exciting!

 

A Little Perspective

These photos are from yesterday, and show a bit more of the story of the interesting clouds. They were enormous and spanned the sky. Maybe that is what the vultures were talking about, “The clouds are THIS big”? Ha ha. Anyway, if you are a cloud expert and know what these clouds might be, I would love to know. I am pretty sure they are Arcus clouds which can come in the form of roll clouds or shelf clouds. There also were a few cumulus clouds floating below the roll clouds. There could also be some cirrocumulus. Keep in mind, I am not expert and this is my best educated guess. If you can contribute any more information, I would LOVE it!!