Friday, March 20, 2009

This and That

All me to introduce you to the Mallard x American Black Duck . This duck is a hybrid which basically means that a mallard and black duck mated and the duck on the left of the picture above is the end result. It took me forever to figure this out as I leafed through my Peterson Guide to not find any duck that looked like the one above. Google came to the rescue and I found out quite a bit about this particular breed of duck which is actually quite common. I also saw my first Green Winged Teal at this pond but was unable to get a decent picture. Another check on my list!
Here is the beloved Pileated Woodpecker. He was busy the whole time I was at the cemetery in Grafton. His mate could be heard throughout the wetlands and I was able to catch a glimpse of her before she flew off across the street.

I also met two birders while I was there which was very cool! I really need to get out there and meet some local birders as I am still really new at this. Perfect example was a bird flying up in the sky. I thought it was a Bluejay, but they knew straight off it was a hawk of sorts. We tried to get an identity, but it flew off too quickly. I would have still thought it was a Bluejay with my inexperienced eyes and ears. I think more experienced birders would teach me a lot this summer so need to break out of my comfort zone of birding alone and mingle a little. ;o)

Lastly a Mute Swan! The pictures came out rather dark due to the gray skies that were present at the time I took the picture. very pretty birds though.

I can't wait to go birding this weekend. Waterfowl are everywhere and I so want to see a Wood Duck! Happy Birding all!!!


20 comments:

ShySongbird said...

Hi Kallen,
Very interesting about the duck cross and really lovely pictures of the Woodpecker and Swan.

Coy Hill said...

Some of these mallard crosses can be some strange looking birds. Mallards will cross with about any duck that will allow it.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Great pictures, Kim... Glad you met some fellow-birders. That's how I'm learning--although I haven't found anyone in this area. I just depend on my blog friends to help me!!!

Love that swan.. Interesting about the hybrid also.. Wow!!! You did GREAT.

A great big Pileated Woodpecker came to my suet feeder late this afternoon. I was on the phone long distance so I couldn't get a picture. But he was a big one.

Hugs,
Betsy

Anonymous said...

YOUR PASSION AND EXCITEMENT ARE CONTAIGOUS! THESE ARE EXCELLENT PICTURES, ESPECIALLY THE SWAN. SO GLAD YOU MET SOME BIRDERS AND I HOPE YOU HAVE A VERY SUCCESSFUL WEEKEND!

Dawn Fine said...

Howdee Kim
I love the swan pics. Have you joined your local Ma. Audubon? Maybe you can meet some local birders through them.
It is always great going out with other birders and sharing information. I find I always learn something.
Have a great day birding tomorrow.

Leedra said...

I like the Swan photos, the softness of them.

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Rich said...

Weekend - FINALLY! Great swan and the duck information of cross is interesting.

Amanda said...

I left you a little surprise on my blog!

Kelly said...

...the swan photos are beautiful...very soft. I like that. You're lucky you have daily access to a Pileated Woodpecker! I love them and hear them frequently, but don't have the close-up viewing you do. Congrats on another check.

Anonymous said...

I envy you your Pileated Woodpecker. Lovely. I was a passenger the other day when we flew past some swans. Too bad.

Anonymous said...

You keep adding to the life list, way to go. I would love to see a Pileated woodpecker, it looks amazing. Good luck with the water fowl watching. Happy birding!

Jayne said...

I did not know about the Mallard/Black duck mix either. :c) Love your Pileated Kallen. Have a wonderful weekend.

Anonymous said...

Hi Kim, I came across your blog from another. It's always nice to meet a fellow birder and one who's enthusiastic to get out there and learn and meet other birders! You might not be able to identify a silhouette yet, but you sure taught this "old time birder" something I never knew about the mallard! Nice shot of the Pileated! We have a lot of those in our neck of the woods, and they love to munch on the Magnolia tree pods when the seed pods are "goodies" to them. It's comical to see them in the Magnolia trees. Here's this HUGE woodpecker normally seen on the trunks of trees with its very distinct "knock knock knock" or b-r-r-r-r-r- sound, now hanging upside down gobbling Magnoila seeds. I see the Pileated often in the yard but have never seen them on the suet (that would be a thrill!)

It's been nice dropping by. Off I fly now to see more of your posts. Keep on birding!

Anonymous said...

Back in the 90s I spent a while with some friends in Michigan who had a nice acreage with woods and a creek. It was a favorite hangout for a whole mish-mosh of Black Duck/Mallard hybirds, you could really get to know individuals!

Shelley said...

I'm in love with your swan - beautiful photos!! And how nice that you met some fellow birders! The only person that will go birding w/ me is my husband - which I am grateful. But oh how i wish some of my birdy blogger friends like you, Jayne, Betsy etc lived by me - I would go birding w/ you guys!!

Anonymous said...

Kallen..a black duck will lack any of the blue wing that a mallard has. It looks to me that if this guy might be a mallard coming into breeding colors with the green coming in on the head. But I can't see the wing bar color. This is what happens to a person who spends five years watching mallards..LOL..

This is a really good resource from 10,000 birds that shows all kinds of mallards..
Manky Mallards

Anonymous said...

Whoops...the black duck drake looks like a female mallard in coloring but with a yellowish bill and may have some blue...groan...

Here is a photo of a hybrid drake in
hybrid drake

Anonymous said...

Interesting how we both posted abut hybrids on the same day.
Some of them are pretty.

Amy said...

Hi Kim, I'm a bit late in commenting but I wanted to tell you that we are getting some great birding tips by joining excursions with our local forest preserve. In our area there are also walks and talks hosted by the county's Audubon society and other various local birding clubs, and most of these are free or very inexpensive. We enjoy getting out there ourselves and learning on our own, and in the past we have done our best to avoid guides. But we've really gotten some great information on these informal programs. You should check if there are any local groups near you that run programs like this. Most of the ones in our area are during weekends.

AMIT said...

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