Beautiful Mandarin, Trumpeter Swan and Barrows Goldeneye

Good morning, here are 3 more beautiful waterbirds from our exhibit, Waterbirds In Love, at the Connecticut Audubon Society in Pomfret!

The Mandarin Duck is native to China & widely regarded as the world’s most beautiful duck. It’s stunning multicolored plumage has long made it an artists’ favorite. It is a perching duck (able to fly & negotiate trees), closely related to the North American Wood Duck. The female lays her eggs in a tree cavity and, after hatching, ducklings soon jump to the ground where their mom leads them to water.

A trumpeter Swan enjoys a leisurely swim on the grounds of Connecticut Waterfowl Trust.  The trumpeter is the largest living bird native to North America with a wingspan exceeding 10 feet. This bird, originally from Europe was hunted nearly to extinction in the 1800’s and by 1933 only 70 in the wild remained!  Careful re-introduction & conservation by wildlife agencies restored the population.

Barrow Golden Eye Duck: A medium-sized black-and-white diving duck, the Barrow's Goldeneye is originally from Iceland. It is, however, primarily a duck of the western mountains of North America & Canada. The drake sports a crescent shaped white patch on the side of his face & has golden yellow eyes. The female is chocolate brown. He can live until 18 years of age.

Won't You Take Our Picture?

Hello we are Sherman & Sheila and live on Hanover Pond in Connecticut. Don't you think we are a handsome couple? so we heard today there was a blog hop from a promising group called Cat On My Head, open to (and we quote) "ALL CRITTERS" of which we are two. So we posed for this rare selfie (encouraged by a human who owns two cats named Peaches & Paprika). (Who would choose such weird names?) Taking these cat people at their word that they welcome "introoders" we are testing this out! 

"Won't You Reconsider?" Baikal Teal Couple (from Waterbirds in Love)

#6..."Won't You Reconsider? (Baikal Teal Couple)

The Baikal teals are flirtatious, coquettish in nature.  Given to only infrequent of the flashy displays seen in other ducks, this drake confines himself to standing proudly on a rock turning his back to would-be girlfriend. Though he is from southern Korea, he is named for his breeding ground, Lake Baikal the world's oldest and deepest freshwater lake, which curves for nearly 400 miles through south-eastern Siberia, north of the Mongolian border.

Water Birds in Love at Ct Audubon (Continued)

Hello again everyone.  In order to share the amazing pictures in our new exhibit, I'll will be sharing a few  several times a week. 

Good news! The Connecituct Audubon Society extended my exhibit until April 28 instead of ending it in Feburary as originally intended. 

The exhibit prints are numbered, so I'll list some chronologically, skipping those I listed already: 

3.  WHITE MANDARIN: "Fly Away With Me"

The White Mandarin is actually a mutation of the more brightly colored mandarin originating in China & now found in many captive populations. Like it’s more colorful cousin, it nests in tree cavities. The beautiful white mandarin couples are demonstrative & put on quite a show. This pair was photographed in Connecticut Waterfowl Trust, a non-profit sanctuary which unfortunately is no longer in operation.

4. GEESE & GOSLINGS: “Single File is my Style”

Processions of geese & their cute offspring is a common sight on Livingston Ripley’s beautiful grounds.  Here, many generations parade single file. Top: The Lesser White Fronted Goose (an endangered species from Russia), a Snow Goose Family (bottom) and in the middle,  a “mixed family” led by a visiting Canada Goose parades for us.

5.  Black Swan Pair Facing

Two black swans face each other, enjoying a quiet moment. The black swan’s origin is Australia & Tasmania & he is in fact the state bird of Western Australia. Like other swans, they are monogamous and pair for life. Underneath their mostly black plumage are beautiful white flight feathers which show during raised wing postures. They utter a musical and far reaching bugle-like sound.