mom and babies feasting by the bank
Looking for food
This little guy kept wondering away from the others
Gathereing together before taking off. Notice the one little straggler in the lower left corner
All nine little ones were in a row behind their mom as they took off across the canal
Great pics, Anitra. When I lived up north (in MA), we lived on a pond and would often see ducks in the water, the little ones following the mother just like these. Invariably over time, some of the ducklings would be lost. One time I SAW the last duckling in a row of them go underwater and never emerge: a snapping turtle (there were many in the pond) had taken him, I'm sure. Here we have not only turtles but alligators as well, and, surely, other predators that can swim. It's "nature red in tooth and claw."
ReplyDeleteHi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteApril 3, 2013 at 8:59 AM
Indeed, this puts me in mind of the Purple Capped Mallard!
A rare and distant relative of the Mozambique Purple.
These Anatidae taxonomies are only germane to the serious cognoscenti;
thus your inability to connect the dots between the Great blue and the Andalusian Blue!
Dave Israel
Hi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteIn the process of connecting the dots, do not overlook the role of The Purple-crowned Lorikeet, Glossopsitta porphyrocephala!
Dave Israel
I have never run to Google and Wikipedia more than since you became UCO president, Dave. I think I have made a dent in your defenses, and you send up another barrage. I'm only one person, and you attack as if I'm a battalion.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is you have 90 percent truth on your side, and it is hard when under a constant onslaught to ferret out the 10 percent for all to see and appreciate. I'm overwhelmed.
"Purple" is driving me crazy: I HATE all things purple. I'm ready to head for the hills. There. I'll say it to save my sanity: UNCLE!
An old fellow named Dave who was fain
ReplyDeleteTo insist near all things were arcane.
On the blog twice did burple
Of birds that were purple,
We decided he must be insane.
Hi Lanny,
ReplyDeleteApril 4, 2013 at 1:48 AM,
Well, since you seem to have tired of avian purples, perhaps you might find matters squamata more to your liking. Take for example Azemiops feae, AKA The extremely arcane Purple Snake!
Death may be caused by simply suffering the creature to vomit upon you and is most horrendous.
Primitives, would hang the creatures by their tails over a collecting vessel and thus acquire the venom; post mortem, a seperate vessel was employed to collect additional dripping fluids!!
One of the reported effects of this admixture, was that the victims brain would dissolve and drip from his nostrils...Well, you may continue the research.
Let me know if you need any additional references "purple".
Dave Israel
Aaaarrrgh! (Choking sound and final sputterings)
ReplyDelete(Doctor pronounces dead and bearers take body offstage. Funeral dirge can be heard in background.)
(Purple curtain comes down)
END OF PLAY