Readers: please send in your GOOD wildlife (or landscape) photos, as I can use more.
Today is Duck Day! A “Festival of Ducks”, or so reader Karen Bartelt titled her group of photos. Her notes are indented:
“In line, in line, it’s all in line, my ducks are all in a row
They do not change, they do not move, they have nowhere to go.”—James Taylor, “Sun on the Moon”Black-bellied whistling ducks (Dendrocygna autumnalis). All in a line at the Santa Ana National Wildlife Refuge, on the Mexican border, where the “Wall” will be built first if there is ever any funding. And I know that ducks can fly over a wall, but the disruption to habitat in the Refuge if a wall were to be built is anyone’s guess. Picture also includes a few American coots (Fulica americana) and some sort of turtle.
Blue-winged teal (Anas discors). Big Bend National Park, Texas. Mexico is in the background. These are not Mexico’s best ducks. They’re bringing drugs (note that one duck has dropped its bundle of drugs into the Rio Grande). They’re rapists (of American ducks). Some I’m sure are fine ducks. But not these. [JAC: There are no ducks better than American ducks!]
Greater scaup (Aythya marila) all in a line at the South Shore Marina, Milwaukee, WI.
Common goldeneye (Bucephala clangula) in many lines, South Shore Marina, Milwaukee.
Red-breasted mergansers (Mergus serrator), South Shore Marina.
Bufflehead (Bucephala albeola, male), south of water treatment plant, Lake Park, Milwaukee. I did see a female, but the photo isn’t very good.
Reader Sean Crawford sent an ibex video; his notes:
Here’s a video of some Ibex [Capra ibex] in Monachil, Andalusia, which is just outside Granada Spain. I was on holiday there with my wife and kids (hence the background noise!). We were hiking and, lo and behold, suddenly a herd (group?) of Ibex crossed our path, one of which does an amazing jump from one boulder to another clear across the stairs of the path we’re on.
The main action takes place right at the beginning, in the first few of seconds, around 4 seconds in, and you have to look pretty closely first time around to see what’s happening. But once you get your eye in, on a second viewing it’s quite clear. The rest of the video is less dramatic as the group makes its way from boulder to boulder up the mountain.
There’s a rash out there of substituting “USian” for “American”. I understand the logical underpinnings of it, and I’m all (yes, I think a “but” is coming) for doing things different, and better.
I ask :
USian coot (Coot usicanus)?
USian duck?
To say nothing of talking with people in different countries…. I managed to avoid saying “but”, didn’t I….
How on Earth does one pronounce “USian”?
It seems there is a day for everything, why can not be “Charly day”, point being, do you know how many ducks are in the world? I’m just wondering.
Every day is a day for many things!
Got it, as long as you yourself can make it your own day, and that is real possible if you put the work on it, but I Just want a “GREAT HERO CHARLY DAY” not much to ask for….
🙂
Sub – because I asked for it, didn’t I…
I had forgotten many of these duck species I used to know. I’ve always enjoyed the idea of ducks. They seem a bit funny and yet often with charming attire. They are probably amusing because of the difficulty of negotiating on land vs the grace they exhibit in their natural place – the water, or sky. Their feet are webbed, after all. Oh, and then there’s the noise they make – like a bicycle horn.
What a wonderful array of ducks. I especially love the webbed feet in the top photo.
The Ibex leap was very graceful over such uneven terrain. Very exciting! Must have been quite a thrill to witness…
Very good pictures! Thank you.
I think that the turtle in the first photo is some sort of Graptemys, going by the apparent relative size of the head.
Great duck photos and the commentary made me lol!
Cool ibex video; they remind me of mountain goats I’ve seen in the Grand Tetons, Wyoming.
Great photos, Karen. Thank you!
I don’t usually LOL when perusing readers’ wildlife photos, but this time I did yuk it up a bit over Karen’s notes! Great photos and video too!