Mother and Child

I took this photo last week of these two Lesser Scaup, but it wasn’t until I got home and was looking closer at the images on my computer that I realized what I had.  In the fore ground is a female adult, and in the background is a juvenile.  Notice the mother has just returned to the surface with something in her mouth.  According to Wikipedia, “The origin of the name scaup may stem from the bird's preference for feeding on scalp - the Scottish word for clams, oysters, and mussels.” So, I’m guessing that maybe that’s a freshwater clam or mussel in her mouth.  We watched both ducks dive several times, so I know the juvenile is capable of finding its own food, but like its human counterpart, this juvenile still looks to mom to provide it something to eat.