We had two black-bellied whistling ducks visit our pond this morning. They were fishing, preening, and not very worried when we took our morning walk through the pasture and around the pond. According to the bird guides (Peterson, National Geographic, and Audubon) these ducks are common in the Rio Grande Valley, and are slowly expanding their range northward. Black bellied whistler duck ( photo / image / picture from marlingardener's Garden ) We are glad they found our little pond on their way! (Sorry for the resolution, but we couldn't get too close for fear of making the ducks take flight)
Great that you didn't disturb them,..i hope they will continue to return there,..fingers crossed for you,..well captured.
I wouldn't mind seeing a couple of Black bellied whistler ducks on my pond. The only one I've had was a male Mallard so not exactly as exciting as yours. I hope they'll return and, maybe, breed near you in years to come.
The pair of whistlers were at the pond this morning about 7 a.m. They were at the shallow end where they were over the weekend, so I think the fishing must be good there. I have some corn that I'll scatter on the pond edge this evening after they leave or go into hiding, whichever they do.
Those are nice, I only get to see the mallards also. after a while that isn't very interesting I would like to see something different, too. I have always hoped to see a wood duck on our little "pond".*sigh* I'll just have to come here and look at your cool ducks.
Ducks are one of my favorite birds. We had ducks and geese and chickens. The chickens were my least favorite. It was fun to sit and watch the ducks play in the mud. Once in awhile the wild ducks would come and eat or play with them. dooley
I checked this morning and most of the corn had been eaten, but there were raccoon tracks, large bird tracks (grackles?) and duck prints around, so the corn was probably a "first come, first served" cafeteria line. The whistlers spent most of the morning at our pond, and are back this morning.
