So Many Ducks Right Now

 

Today I worked from home, and there isn't much to say about that, but I do have a new comment about my plaid tam, from Cecil Markovitch: "It looks like the top of a jellyfish." Of course, he was saying that about the photo under blacklight, not from seeing me actually wearing it.

Travalon got more photos of birds from our dock today, Tux Duck and his mate, and a pair of hooded mergansers.

I love this photo so much:

Here are the hooded mergansers. The male has the black and white head.

Three male blue-winged teals.

Another pair of mallards. Tux Duck is a hybrid, probably of a mallard and a domestic duck.

I love this photo too:

And the cranes are back and dancing like crazy.

I saw an eagle fly into a nearby tree while Travalon was taking photos, but then we couldn't find it for him to get a photo. I ran into a neighbor who said on University Bay someone had reported seeing twelve types of ducks. Wow! Let's see how many we have seen off our dock:

1. Mallards

2. Common Mergansers

3. Hooded Mergansers

4. Blue-Winged Teals

5. Wood Ducks

6. Canvasbacks (been awhile)

7. Buffleheads

8. Northern Shovelers

9. Ring-Necked Ducks (Travalon took photos of these today, but they weren't clear)

So if they have seen red-breasted mergansers, goldeneyes, red-headed ducks, and scaups, all of which we have seen in the area but not from our dock (that I can recall), that would get you to a baker's dozen. And of course there was that pintail duck we saw at Cherokee Marsh, and we have seen other ducks at Horicon Marsh and Whalen Grade, like widgeons and gadwalls. Travalon has photographed all of these kinds of ducks. I'm pretty sure we even got photos of green-winged teals at Nine Springs. There sure are a lot of ducks migrating through right now! I love it.

Famous Hat

The Return of Tux Duck

 

Early this morning I had to get up to powder my nose, and when I got back into bed, Travalon's stuffed rhino Rodrigo had moved over to my side of the bed, so I snuggled him. Then I dreamed that I took him to work and lost him. Here is a photo of Rodrigo for reference.

I went back to sleep and woke up seven minutes after my alarm should have gone off. I could see that it was set, but later I realized that it was set an hour later because Friday I worked from home. At least I won't have to reset it for tomorrow... 

Somehow I got to work on time, and at a quarter to noon two coworkers and I went down to get the pizza that was delivered for the grad student lunch. They were welcoming the candidates who are considering coming here for grad school. Then Hardingfele and I walked outside, since it was so beautiful out, and when we got back, we had leftover pizza. Then I had a very long meeting in the afternoon for the Academic Staff Assembly, not nearly as interesting as the University Staff Congress meetings. Maybe I just need to get to know people, because at first the Congress meetings were just a way to get out of work, but by the end I was really into it and knew a lot of people and sat on a lot of committees. It's a bummer to have to start all over again. Then when I got home, I realized Niko was still at work, snuggling against his girlfriend. She doesn't have a name that I can remember.

I was sure there is a picture of the two of them together, but I can't find it now. I've actually had her longer; she came into our house in February of 2022, while Niko arrived in June 2023. I brought her to work right away, and so Niko comes with me to work to see her. Now they get to spend the night together - ooh! Scandalous! It will actually be two nights, since I work from home tomorrow.

This morning I got another DuoLingo sticker:

Roddy is unimpressed.

Travalon took some photos off our dock this morning. Tux Duck is back!

And so are the blue-winged teals.

You can see their blue wings as they fly away.

Here is a male cardinal hanging out by the tennis court.

Then Travalon went to Cherokee Marsh again. He saw common mergansers.

Two couples! A double date?

Here are some mergansers taking flight.

The swans who were hiding yesterday were back today.

The flicker is still around.

This isn't the clearest shot, but I think the duck in front of all these common mergansers is a pintail.

Travalon found a spot with lots of scaups and ringed-neck ducks. They look almost identical, except that the ringed-neck ducks have designs on their bills.

This isn't the clearest photo, but their mating dances are so ridiculous that they're delightful.

Everything is migrating through right now. Soon we'll have to go to Patrick Marsh and Shoveler's Sink to see if we can find red-breasted mergansers, since there don't seem to be any (yet) at Cherokee Marsh. Once the ice has melted off the lake, the loons will migrate through. I don't know how long we have the swans with us, but we'll enjoy them while we've got them!

Famous Hat