Friday, May 9, 2014

A New Bunny, A New Cat, & New Birds


I know - more bunnies? Yep, more bunnies.
This is called "Ribboned Rabbit". The design is by The Cricket Collection.

Pickles the Cat decided that since I'm not going anywhere, he'll make due with my second-rate services.   

Pickles has finally stopped hiding under the bed. While he will not have much to do with me, he now hangs out in the same room with me, and has taken an interest in my stitching efforts. He still very much missed "His People".

The last couple of days have been grey and showery.
The weather does not bother the birds at Delta Ponds.

The ponds are just a ten minute walk away and a great place to bird watch.
I saw several different birds I was not able to photograph including Killdeer, Violet-Green Swallows, Barn Swallows, and Red-Winged Blackbirds.

I took a walk in the late afternoon, not the best time for bird watching. 

Nonetheless some of the "Waterfowl Regulars" were out and about...

...including Canada Geese...

...and Mallards.

I am not totally certain about the ID of this pair of ducks.

I am leaning toward Gadwall, a dabbling duck.

And as duck hens tend to all look alike, I won't even speculate as to who these hens and ducklings might be. 

The dark stripe across the eyes makes me think they are Mallards.

I was rewarded with two new-to-me birds.
First off a very cool wading bird.

It's a Spotted Sandpiper.
It nests in gravelly areas along streams, lakes, and ponds.   Sandpipers eat insect and tiny fish. This is a highly territorial bird so does not appear in groups or flocks.

But here's my most amazing bird!

A couple of Wood Ducks!
Are they not the prettiest ducks ever?  I've never seen Wood Ducks before.  They are so colorful and have the most interesting nesting habits.  They nest in cavities and nesting boxes well above the ground.  The ducklings then must jump out of the nest on to the ground or into the water almost immediately after hatching. If you'd like to see a video click here.

13 comments:

Barb said...

How exciting for you to have seen the wood ducks. Bird lovers always like to add a new bird to their list of birds they have seen. They are certainly beautiful ducks!!

Vickie said...

Brian just loves wood ducks.
Pickles is a handsome cat. Glad he is warming up to you. :)

krayolakris said...

You just cannot have too many bunnies!!

Margaret said...

Glad Pickles is warming up to you. You are so sweet to cat-sit. I wish we had someone to cat sit Mia when we are traveling. Love those wood ducks! Very pretty! Nice stitching too -- love rabbits!

cucki said...

Aww I love these ducks so much ..
Very sweet
Big hugs x

Mouse said...

awww pickles is lovely and glad he is accepting you more ... love the wee walk and yes they are female mallards ... we have lots of these on our canal :) ooooo love the wood ducks .... :) love mouse xxxx

Annette-California said...

Pickles is a beautiful cat. Sounds like hes starting to trust you a bit more. I don't think I've seen wood ducks before either. Beautiful.
love Annette

Chris said...

Wow! Gorgeous ducks! Lovely stitching start too!

Carol said...

Oh, those wood ducks are gorgeous! We only have our mallards here, but they, too, are quite enjoyable to watch as they fight/court, etc!

So glad Pickles is adjusting well :)

Pam in IL said...

The Wood Ducks are beautiful!

Maggee said...

Sandpipers are my most favorite birds! How exciting! I have a friend that lives about an hour away, and she apparently is near the sound, and has sand in the back part of her yard where Sandpipers love to come! I would be in heaven to see them daily! The wood ducks are so vividly colored! Great walk!

Angela said...

Great new start! Pickles is adorable :) Lovely pics of the ducks.

geeky Heather said...

I love Wood Ducks...I grew up on a lake and we had put up three boxes for them. The female would fly into the box in the morning and lay one egg each day for a couple weeks...fly in, lay and leave. Then one day she would come to stay, sit all day and only leave to get some breakfast. In about a month, we would keep watch and usually get to see her fly down to the water and start to call to the ducklings. They would be jumping up to the hole (looking like popcorn popping!) One by one, they would finally make it high enough and hurl themselves out and down to the water. They can sometimes fall 20 feet or more (our boxes were not that high, so we had to shield them against snakes). Such fun! I was sometimes late for school because we did not want to risk scaring a mother off by starting the car!