Friday, February 15, 2008

The Scoop On Scaup



On a cold day recently at Cedar Key, it was a tossup between the need to feed and the urge to tuck your bill under your wing for some warmth.

His feet have got to be cold.




Most of our wild ducks will be leaving us soon. These pics were taken over Christmas break on a really cold, windy day.

Yesterday, large flocks of robins lined the roadway home through the woods, so I imagine they are beginning to work back north also.

Patience snow bunnies, your birds are on the move.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I hope you took good care of them. I haven't heard any complaints from them yet.

tsiya said...

More Scaup here this year than usual, in recent years, at least I saw more. I can remember rafts of them out by the inlet, thousands and thousands, and watched them come in at Guana, the sky would be full of them.
FC, the gator farm already has a pair of Great Egrets ready to nest, Spring is coming!
There is always something to watch for, always something to look forward to.

threecollie said...

Can't wait to see the first one! Liz already has....

robin andrea said...

I've been checking pacific northwest bloggers to see how the hints of spring are progressing. Robins have returned to Washington, and the crocus are blooming. It could be a false start, but spring seems to be on its way. Yay!

Anonymous said...

We have hordes of robins coming through northeast Georgia at odd times throughout the winter. Yesterday I took note of one such horde, but I've seen them periodically. We must live in one of those ambiguous areas, as I've always been puzzled by the "first robin of spring" expression.

Nice ducks though!

SwampAngel65 said...

Cute ducks! We have a plethora of stupid Musgovies down here...too ugly to waste pixels on. But your ducks are cute.

(How is "Mortal Fear"? I love Greg Iles, but haven't read that one yet)

Anonymous said...

BTW, I think the term you wanted was "Snow Lions" rather than bunnies.

R.Powers said...

Pablo,
Of course, lions, what was I thinking?

Tsiya,
I used to hunt scaup in Guana in the '70's.
I love that place.

3C,
Hundreds of robins in the woods today.

Robin,
Sounds good, seems amazing to think robins are already that far north.

Wayne,
Hordes! That's what I saw today, just tons of robins forming up.

Swampangel,
Yeah, muscovies are a waste of a good duck.

Mortal Fear is good, but tech dated. It's set in a computery background, but all the equipment seems so dated now. Still, the story is a lot of fun. I only read at bedtime, so it takes me awhile since I usually fall asleep after about 15 minutes.

h said...

Mute Monday should be a good one for your eye this week. Theme is DIVERSITY.

R.Powers said...

Troll,
A favorite topic.

  said...

Here in the Tallahassee area, the robins for years came through faithfully on February 23. Then it became February 22 for a few years. This year it was the 11th.

Regardless of cause, global warming is real.