The Cutest Egg Thief

 

I worked from home today, and it was a busy day with a lot of people pestering me, and a long meeting to work on the final report for our committee on agism in the university. In the morning Travalon and I went down to the dock, and we saw a pair of common mergansers flying and Tux Duck swimming around.

We also saw a mink stealing an egg out of a nest.

The egg was pretty good-sized, so I figured it was either from a crane or a goose. How sad to lose a crane egg, but frankly we don't need any more geese. 

I had to work late to make up time and heard the train go by just before I got done, then I went down to the dock and saw a Canada goose sitting on the nest the mink had raided. I said to it, "If you had been there, that mink wouldn't have stolen your egg. Did you notice one was missing?" but it ignored me. I also saw two male northern shovelers, two coots, and a pair of blue-winged teals. When Travalon got home, he went down to the dock and took these photos. First, a male mallard.

Here he is with Tux Duck and a pair of northern shovelers.

The northern shoveler is a handsome duck with a very large bill.

I wonder if northern shovelers are becoming more common? I remember seeing my first one at Horicon, and how exciting it was, and then last spring they were around our dock, and this spring they have been around for quite a while. I would love it if they stayed here and raised a family.

Famous Hat