Saturday, August 11, 2007

Suey, whaddya see? The greatest duck in history!

What would a weekend be without frenzied activity? Damn lonely, that's for sure.
Geoff had another book signing today, this time at a marathon (when I told my Mom this, she said, "What? At a gas station?") and I took the girls to RAPTOR with me and when Geoff was done, he came and got the girls. We do a lot of car/kid swapping and it wears me out.
As the girls and I were about to leave the neighborhood, we saw this:
Ducks on parade
Ducks on Parade!
When I saw them, I thought of the song near the end of Charlotte's Web...

My land, isn't he grand?
Zuckerman's famous pig
Golly, you gotta agree he's a real celebrity
Fine, swine wish he was mine
What if he's not so big?
He's some terrific, radiant, humble thig-a-majig of a pig
The terrific, radiant, humble
Zuckerman
Zuckerman
Zuckerman
Zuckerman
Zuckerman's
Zuckerman's famous pig!
Sorry, went on a little long there...
But don't they look like they are in a parade? And the one in front looked like he was sporting a tuxedo.
When I got out of my car, they ran at me.
Like I was a loaf of bread and just flashed them the goods.

Isabelle and duck parade
These ducks have been seen around the subdivision for awhile now. And no one knows who they belong to. They are way too friendly for their own good. One bit me, and one bit Isabelle. I shooed them off the street and we went on. Geoff, can we have some ducks? We can let them noodle around in the back yard, and it will give Nellie and Hooper something to do. They can practice their herding.
Eyeball beetle
Research is ongoing as to what kind of bug this is. It moved like a Garthim.

I had gone out to pick some fresh milkweed, and found a monarch cat I obviously had missed for the past week or so:

Introducing Snookie
He is a biggin. Probably in his 5th and last instar. So I should be able to post his transformation into a jade earring soon.

And now, a bird quiz:
We have a possible new program bird at RAPTOR. She has been jessed and Jeff (Of tree-climbing fame) worked with her some today. We are giving her one more chance to make a full recovery from a broken wing, but if she stays with us, she will go out on programs with me.
I don't think Mon@rch should be allowed to guess on this one, since he has so much experience with banding and so on. But if no one gets it right, I will let him guess.

She's in a mew with Scarlet, our red-tailed hawk.
Any guesses on what kind of bird she is?
Hint: She is a juvenile. But that's not really a hint. Juvenile birds of prey all look alike.
Come on guys...make me proud.
The prize: I will make you a "Cape May First Annual Birder Blogger Conference" T-shirt.

9 comments:

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Broad-winged?

Susan Gets Native said...

Lynne:
Nope. But you are sorta close.
This is a non-migratory bird.

Rurality said...

Swainson's?

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

Sniff...sniff..
does this mean I can't go to Cape May with you?

:(

donaldthebirder said...

Juv. Red-shouldered Hawk?

Mary said...

At first glance, I think it's a juvenile Kestrel. LOL! Smack my hands.

Love the ducks. You have a lot going on!

We are staying inside here for another week. Come on Autumn!

Anonymous said...

Is it a two hour old pterydactyl? What is my prize again?

Anonymous said...

They are DELETED, DELETED, DELETED, and DELETED! LOL!

nina at Nature Remains. said...

Sharp-shinned? Looks pretty small.