Fall Colors

Yesterday we went back to Lyons City Park to take advantage of the warm sunny weather and look for some ducks.  We were here on the first of the month and did not see any migrating ducks, but with the recent heavy rains I felt that we might have some new arrivals, and we did.  Fresh in for the season were a pair of Gadwalls, and a lone male Ring-necked Duck, not many but a start. The biggest bonus was the strikingly beautiful fall colors, giving rich reflections on the pond waters.

Gadwalls

Ring-necked Duck

Canada Goose

Here is the link for our eBird observation  list with additional photos.

Greater Yellowlegs

Yesterday we made a trip to Fairview Drive Wetlands near the Salem Airport for a birdwalk.  I was hoping for some water and some new migrating water fowl or shore birds after a long dry summer.  There wasn't much water, but to my great suprise I did get the one bird I was hoping the most to see, a Greater Yellowlegs.  Jeanette and I have been birding at Fairview Wetlands for 19 years now.  We started walking there from our house on Reed Court in 1998.  Birding was mainly an excuse to get in a good walk.  For fun we started making a list of the birds we would see between our house and the wetlands.  In October of that year we spotted four to six birds we weren't sure of with long yellow legs and a strange high pitched cry.  I spent a lot of time looking at bird books before I could conclude that they were Greater Yellowlegs.  Now all these years later when ever we think of birding at Fairview Wetlands, it brings a smile to our faces as we recall the Greater Yellowlegs and their piercing call.

Ducks in a Row

I'm the kind of a guy that likes to have all my ducks in a row, possibly that's one reason I like this photo taken a couple of days ago at Lyons City Park of these ducks all standing in a row on a log.  What initially caught my attention were the two spectacular males shown in the middle. They are a Wood Duck on the left, and a Mallard on the right. I can't remember ever seeing these two different species sharing a log at the same time.  To add to the uniqueness  of this photo,  flanking the male Mallard on the far right is a female Wood Duck, and flanking the male Wood Duck on the left is a female Mallard.  All the ducks may be in a row, but they are certainly not in order, and to a guy that likes order---well what can I say. I like the photo, and they all seem to be getting along, maybe diversity is a good kind of thing.