Egret du jour

It seems that a great egret is a daily backyard visitor lately.  I don't know if it's because he had been getting lucky finding little ducklings to go after or found the fishing good, but I usually see one every day.  Usually it stops somewhere across the canal, either by the water or on the grass, and often comes over to my side to perch on my dock post for some preening, or check out the neighbor's yard.  They are large impressive birds and are bright white in color, with black legs and a yellow beak.

Yes that's a feather on my beak.  I've been preening a little.

Our anhinga Ani has also spent large parts of the day on the dock, sometimes drying her wings and sometimes just resting.  So the egret doesn't always get to perch on the primo dock post - the northwest one.  I'm not sure what makes that one the favorite.

Yesterday I saw a different little bird at the tube feeder.  Could it be the palm warbler whom I usually see on the screen eating insects?  I didn't get a close enough look to tell.  It might be the painted bunting female again but looked smaller.

The bird feeder visitors have been pretty polite, each waiting for his turn.  The cardinals tend to wait a bit away from the feeder so as not to get into arguments with the bigger grackles, blue jays and doves.

I think I'll wait for my turn to eat in this nice safe tree

Colson the call duck is here all the time with his mottled duck buddies, usually a dozen of them.  Today a new mottled duck with a white ring around his neck appeared.  I find it almost impossible to identify separate mottled ducks so it's nice to have one with a distinguishing characteristic.  There was another really big one that towered over some of the others and was taller, longer and heavier.  It was clearly a male.

Distinctive looking mottled is a welcome addition to the backyard

The guy in the front is a healthy looking big boy

The Egyptian goose pair, Cleo and Tony, have also been here daily to add to the noise and excitement.  Some of the Muscovies take real objection to their presence but most go along with it.

When it comes to Muscovies, there have been relatively few in the mornings.  Girls Chirpie, Cutie2, Cutie Tips and an occasional harem girl are usually around, and a few boys usually including Blanco, Big Boy and Lazlo.  A new male with a lot of white on his front seems to be coming around a lot also.  In the evenings, Freckles and Red Eye often come by.  Freckles is a long-standing visitor with mostly yellow feet with some black spots so I gave him that name.  We still have not seen Pretty Girl and Sweetie in quite a while.

This evening Blanco had designs on Cutie Tips and chased her in the backyard until Big Boy, her main man, got between them,  Then with Cutie Tips went into the canal, Blanco flew in and chased her there, but when Big Boy saw what was happening, he flew in and intervened.  Her hero!

The Muscovy mom has visited daily with her remaining 3 juveniles.  She seems to have lost one of them and surprisingly it is the biggest one, the male, who is missing.  I had thought they reached a size where all 4 would survive, but I guess until they can fly, survival is always an issue.  Perhaps he just decided to strike out on his own and not stay with the family.  Somehow I doubt it though.  I believe all the remaining kids might be girls but it's still hard to tell.  The one in the last picture is the smallest and almost certainly female, with a rather demure attitude.  The other two are more confident which makes me think they might be boys after all.  Their missing brother was a lot bigger though.

#1 with yellow tipped feet and white at the neck

#2 with less yellow and less white

#3 has a yellow cast to most of her feet and more white on her mottled front

 I'm still caring for Cutie2's abandoned eggs, keeping them warm and turning them a few times a day, and misting them a little once in a while.  This is probably going to fail but at least I am trying.  I will candle them this weekend to see if they are viable, and before doing it, will Google the process to see both how to do it and what the results indicate.  Thank goodness for Google.