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Out and About

I have no idea what kind of ducks these are.  Anyone?  They seem to be wearing yarmulkes, but I can only speculate as to their religious leanings.


The other day the swan came right up to me.  Obviously it associates people with food.  Of course when I had the camera with me, it ignored me and stayed on the far side of the pond.  (Probably remembered that I did not have a camera or food with me the last time.


a bottle brush tree
 

a Floirda moonflower
 
This is a view of the Venice high school from the Intracoastal Waterway.  It is huge.  I snapped this picture because school was in session.  I could hear kids out in the yard.  AND...I was not responsible for a single one of them.  Aw, retirement.  



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  1. TomFebruary 20, 2013 at 8:30 PM

    Imagine ... going to a high school that borders the Intracoastal. Now THAT'S paradise!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Muffy's MarksFebruary 20, 2013 at 8:56 PM

    Don't have a clue of what type of ducks those are. Love the photo of the moonflower!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. ~Kc WaddellFebruary 20, 2013 at 10:26 PM

    That moon flower is just beautiful! So are the ducks!

    ReplyDelete
  4. SextantFebruary 21, 2013 at 12:28 AM

    I am not the greatest birder in the world, well actually I am not a birder at all but maintain a minor interest, but I believe that you have a black bellied whistling duck. My bird guide points out the white ring around the eye, red bill, and pink legs. The eye ring and bill are definite in your photo.

    http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Black-bellied_Whistling-Duck/id

    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Black-bellied_Whistling_Duck

    If you heard their calls, you can check it against the SOUND at the Cornell site.

    Note that southern Florida is not shown in the normal range. You may have a bit of a find there. If any of your friends are birders, let them know. In all likelihood they probably are not rare to your area, but you never know.

    Cool find, nice walk. You are right about retirement. I met with my old gang last week, and hearing about all the latest fiascos and my name is not associated with one of them. Love feeling.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. OlgaFebruary 21, 2013 at 11:06 AM

      Thanks for the info. I just read that in the paper that whistling ducks had been spotted at the rookery where I went on Sunday. These guys were at another location, but I wondered if that is what they might be.

      Delete
    2. SextantFebruary 21, 2013 at 11:24 AM

      Again I am not a birder, but that eye ring and red bill in your photo were pretty convincing to me. Like I say to a birder in your area those ducks might be a real find, if not to their life list, at least to their year list.

      Myself, I have a B-36, an SR-71, the Hoover Dam, a 2-8-4 Berkshire locomotive and an LST along with about 50 birds on my life list, so I don't count.

      Delete

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