Left-overs.....

You've all heard of a "mushroom fairy ring"....... .....this is a "Mallard Duck butt ring". LOL

As soon as I got my knee shot, I told Mike to take me to the wetlands! That is called being "optimistic"! Well.....of course the shot wasn't really working yet, so I just checked the ducks to see if the Shoveler was still there. Yep! I wish a male would show up....they are really pretty and she needs a mate.

It turned towards me, so I got a better shot of that "shovel" bill.

This pair is a bit light.....wrong time of day and wrong camera settings, I am sure.

The favorite spot in the overhead sun, seemed to be "under the boardwalk".

(That was a song, once upon a time :-)

Balance

Snoozing

Line-up

Feathers

Headless

That about sums up the ducks today. Sorry about the poor light on these.

I saw something once about taking photos of birds on a wire and turning them into notes of music and playing them......

.....I think this would be full of arpeggios and sixteenth notes!

We drove down to the river to check the level and take some sunset shots (saving that for tomorrow). We were almost too late for the sunset, but I could see a bit of the light shining on the Aztar Casino riverboat.

The hotel across the street.

Back home, I found out that...yes, the hummers are still hanging around. They suggest leaving up feeders into October for stragglers. Shall I make a little sign pointing "south" for her to give her a hint it's time to leave??

Home birds...again.....

These photos pretty much empty my files of anything new. I get knee shots today, so hopefully I will be out and about and taking photos later! I was surprised last Saturday to see a Painted Lady on the sedum. Must be a straggler heading south. I think the butterflies are pretty much gone now and will probably take the photos off my sidebar soon.
I even got a closed shot. She was a very cooperative "lady".

My other "happy, happy" bird....the Tufted Titmouse. I swear they always smile.

A rather "unusual" pose!

I think he might drop that one....he barely has it in his mouth.

I may have to trim back the vine on the dead dogwood, so it doesn't interfere with my photo taking. I wish the new dogwood (growing next to it) would get big enough to get rid of this "vine tree" and have a normal tree again, but the birds are happy with the dead tree as long as I keep the vine growing on it to give some hiding places.

"Aren't I cute?"

Another young visitor....one of the youngest Cardinals hanging around. She wasn't too sure about the fountain, but has seen the other birds hanging out there.

Well.....maybe she'll try the water a little bit. She drank, but didn't bathe and flutter like the House Sparrows.

A late afternoon mix on the deck.......Cardinal, Goldfinch, House Sparrow.

The nuthatch is still hanging around.....in and out....in and out.....

That's it....no more photos.

A ducky sort of day.....

Saturday I stopped by the wetlands just long enough to see if the ducks were still on the pond.

I was thrilled to see this Northern Shoveler and what I think are Blue-winged Teal. Shovelers are always easy to recognize with that long bill! The Teal, in the middle, is much smaller than the Mallard, which is the one in front with its head down.

Shoveler and teal.

Over on the other pond, the Mallards were swimming around. The males are very green headed now and seemed to be pairing up.
"Which one will she choose?"

Sometimes the males have more of a bluish green head.

Sweethearts :-)

Not fully green yet.......

....but here are three available females!

This one has a harem!

"Hey....share with us!"

I was surprised to see that the black duck (domestic/Mallard mix) that lives on the pond had new feathers and look so much better then the last time I saw it! I love the greenish sheen to them.

The green touches show better here....but where did the head go?

I hope we get a lot of migrants at the wetlands, but if we don't get some rain soon, there might not be any water there for them!

Chickadee-dee-dee (mostly) .....

This is not a Chickadee. This is a Summer Tanager.I have never seen one of these before and it is the only decent photo I got, so I am putting it in this post with my Chickadees. Thank you, Bruce....one of the experts I consult when I have a bird I've never seen before!
"Hmmmm....I don't think she's my type."

"This one looks a bit strange, too.....very quiet."

"What is in here??.....nothing that looks good."

I love the perky little Chickadees and would miss them greatly if they ever went away! They like the wire feeder just like the Nuthatches, only they prefer to choose their seeds from a right side up position :-)

They are in and out so fast, sometimes I barely get the focus and they are gone.

Black-Capped Chickadee or Carolina Chickadee?

I have never found a satisfactory answer to that question! Acording to all the maps in the books, mine should be Carolina Chickadees. I have always felt they were Black-Capped, but am probably wrong. They are fairly large and have long tails and their voice is not fast. Maybe I have both. All I know is that they say "Chickadee...dee...dee....dee" and are very cute.

They can bring a smile any time they visit :-)

"Eeny, meeny, minny, mo...."

"Maybe this one.....hmmmm."

"And we have a winner......!"

So whatever chickadee you are.....keep coming by every day and making me smile!

Expect the unexpected....

This was funny.... The chickadee was busy getting a seed when......
....the Nuthatch flew in for another seed. Both were so startled they "jumped" into the air!

But all was peaceful in the end, and they shared the feeder :-)