Mystery solved

Well, I didn't think anybody was going to get it this week, but KellyRae sneaked in at the last minute. Yep, it's a Muscovy Duck. Ugly ain't they? Muscovies are not natives, though there are those who want them declared such. (Go figger). Admittedly, they're not quite as perturbing as some introductees, they can be a nuisance and do interfere, to some degree, with some of our native species.

Please pass the orange sauce

It's been quite a while since I visited the refuge. Birds seem to be very scarce around here these days, but I figured I'd take a chance, anyhow. Just past the visitors' center, I almost missed a young doe standing on the side of the road. I backed up and she just stood there looking at me. The second I raised the camera, though, I knew she was about to bolt. So I snapped off one quick shot and she made tracks. I pulled over to eat the pizza slice I had picked up on the way and glanced up just in time to see a huge black pig trotting across the road. Another missed photo op. *sigh* I kept hoping the sow would smell the sausage and stick her schnoz in the shot, but she slipped silently into the sylva.

A bit further down the road, I stopped for a few minutes to check out Stoney Bayou Pool #1. Not much there besides a couple with their unleashed dog. (Do I look amused?) I counted one sparrow and a palm warbler before moving along. I heard a Great Blue Heron croaking and saw what I thought was a lone duck floating in the pool. I needed to get a closer look to ID it, so I drove a few yards and pulled over. Grabbed the bins and... a gator? I mistook a gator head for a duck? Hang on.. what's that sticking out of his mouth? Aha! I'm not as rusty as I thought. I flipped the switch to movie and caught a few seconds before he went under. Then 6 more seconds and it was over. I'll only share the shorter one, since it took me over an hour to upload it. If the other one turns out to be remarkable in any way, I'll try to upload it tomorrow. Now, if blooger will cooperate... don't blink. 8-}



PS - WOOHOO! I finally got it to work here. If you have problems with it, or if you want a larger view, try clicking here.
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What happened to the Wood Ducks?

One of my favourite day trip destinations is Lake Frances in Madison. Amazingly, we've always found quite a few Wood Ducks there. Normally, Wood Ducks are very shy and fly away at the first hint of human intrusion. But these have, apparently, gotten somewhat used to people. They still don't let anyone get too close, but they at least stay on the lake. I love to visit when there are lots of ducklings.
This picture was taken around this time last year. Aren't they beautiful creatures?! Back in January, I went over there and was surprised to find not a single Wood Duck. In fact, there were only 5 or 6 Mallards. I tried again a couple of weeks ago and still no Wood Ducks. I hope the city didn't decide to de-duck the lake. We've seen that happpen before. The reasons didn't make sense. No surprise there. I'd really be interested in learning just what did happen.