H.J. Ruiz – Avian101 – Page 590 – "My Backyard Visitors" – All about birds

Do Ducks Bathe?

We just had a nice cool morning with no rain, only humidity but not so high. We decided to visit the park in our town. Lucy, Tyler and I drove to the park not very far from our home. Tyler calls it the “duck park” because the park has a pond where some ducks and geese stop by. Among all the other amenities such as baseball field, tennis, playgrounds, amphitheater etc… this is a large park!. We limit ourselves to one of the children playgrounds and of course the pond. It wasn’t exactly a sunny day but gave me enough light to get some pictures of ducks. We stayed there for about one hour and a half then we returned home, because some ominous clouds were ready to unleash rain.

One of the things that called my attention during my photo session was seeing a Muscovy Duck (male) being in the pond swimming most of the time swam to the edge of the pond and took a bath! This action made me smile a bit.

Now I wonder if fish take baths too?

Photo Gallery

Text and photographs © HJ Ruiz – Avian101

Tags: birds, Muscovy Duck, nature, photography, photos of birds

Look Outside my Window!

Welcome to my window, we are going to look outside where my backyard is and find out if there is any bird activity. Take a look on the right hand side a juvenile female Northern Cardinal is waiting for her turn to get her meal from the feeder clay saucer. She’s still young, notice her bill is still dark and eventually will turn red with a bit more age. She is young and very pretty! The cardinals families in my backyard are numerous. They are local residents for many years.

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After spending many days in the backyard, most Brown-headed Cowbirds were gone about 2 weeks ago and suddenly about a dozen of them returned. If you take a look at this couple, they are as always looking involved in a marital quarrel, males are very bossy and short tempered. You can easily sense that looking at them while they share some seeds from one of the deck’s feeders.

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If you look up a bit you can see a handsome male House Finch perched on a branch, most likely keeping an eye on the family not very far from there. They are very united and families are close neat members. They care very much for the safety of their kin. Very likable birds, love to feed in groups. These birds build their nests anywhere that may offer a private place with apparent safe shelter, it could be a bush, a hole in a wall, a hollow tree, all shoes, a fallen flower pot, etc.