Just Ducky

We went camping with good friends Rob and Linda at Westward Ho last week and enjoyed our riverside campsite. The weather co-operated so we could hike, swim, play botchee ball and make blueberry bushpies.

One of my goals is always to take some pictures of birds that I don't have yet, and this is one of them - they are female Common Mergansers. The males have green heads. I like the way the red heads are all fluffy. Apparently when they take off they run with their feet on the surface of the water until they are airborne.

I got this picture in Crossfield. It is a Horned Grebe, and so far it is my prize duck picture. Notice the feathers by the red eye - they stick out and look like a fancy hairdo! If you can't see it clearly, double click on it to enlarge the picture.

This is a Ruddy Duck, and it's claim to fame is its blue bill!

I took this picture in Coaldale.

This is a blue-winged teal pair.

I can't believe how many different kinds of ducks there are, and some so unusual! Now that I've got the Horned Grebe, my next big prize would be to photograph the Hooded Merganser or the Wood Duck. The Wood Ducks are very colorful and nest in trees. The Hooded Mergansers have totally wild hairdos - He is black and white and she reddish.

Another two months to find these birds!