Quack Quack!

Just peeking in to see if you're still here! Summer classes are over and I'm taking a fall break. More time for blogging! (Well that and other things of course!)

Birding by Kayak

It was a nice day to go kayaking...






I saw Lynne's Turkey Vulture friend in the sky...






..and a Blue Heron with an itch.






He looks so regal standing on that tree branch.




What's a lake without a gang of Mallard Ducks?





And who better to sing to me from the trees as I paddle by than my little Chickadee friend.

Hot tubbing Ducks!

Side Note: My husband put a small 3x3 foot pond in our backyard for our goldfish last summer. It's small! But a Blue Heron did manage to find it last summer and eat all our fish!


Me: Um, Hello Mr. Duck. Welcome to my backyard. You're kinda far from a lake.
Mr. Duck: I'm here for the hot tub!
Me: What hot tub??





Mrs. Duck: Yoo hoo honey, over here! The water is warm!
Me: That is too small for you two!





Mrs. Duck: That's what you think!





Mr. Duck: Uh, can we have a little privacy here?

Take a walk with me!

Come with me for a little walk! (This walk we're taking just occurred this past Saturday for the GBBC- so we're going back in time. Humor me and pretend.) We are going to head to the Ausable River in Grayling, Michigan.

Did you know that Grayling is home to the longest non-stop canoe race in North America? It is called the Ausable River Canoe Marathon.



Here's a nice little bridge for us to cross and see if we can find ourselves some "fancy" ducks!




Well here's a handsome Mallard.....



Omigosh! He has a girlfriend! Good for him! Hey you two, are there any Golden Eyes, Loons or Blue Herons with you?



Now I've made them upset and they're flying away with one of their friends. Okay, let's head over to Spikes Keg O Nails and have some of the best burgers in town. I'm buying!

Duck Love!

Can you see the female giving the male her bashful pose?

Female Mallard goes shopping

Yep - I'm still stretching out my 'shopping center' pond photos. Here's my lovely female Mallard.

A well-groomed Mallard Duck

I am still having a bird drought. Brief glimpses in my yard, lost opportunities in the park and I won't be at the cabin until this weekend. So I "cherry-picked" a photo opportunity. I know there are mallard ducks at the shopping center pond close to my house so in desperation, I drove out there. (Now if I hadn't said anything, would you have thought it was a nice little pond out in the woods somewhere....??)

Making himself more handsome if possible.

Yes, you are a handsome boy and I was grateful for the photo opportunity. Thank you!

And no, I won't tell the other ducks you live in a pond at a shopping center!

Baby, baby

I went to check on the baby mallards and was sad to see they were down to five. Originally there were seven. Hoping these little guys make it.

Speaking of babies - can you believe THIS?!

Mrs. Mourning Dove is having more babies! I think this is the 5th or 6th brood - I've lost count. (Unless some other dove is using her old nest.) I just want to ask her "Seriously? No, really - seriously more babies?"