Happy little moments... by the lake

One of my new favourite autumn rituals is walking along the nature trail to the lake in the nearby park at the end of the afternoon to visit the ducks and geese and swans. If we time it right we get there just in time to see the sun sinking behind the autumny trees, casting its glow on the clouds so they light up like impossible tufts of fluorescent candyfloss. As the air gets colder and crisper in the last glow of the sun's rays, all kinds of quacks and shrieks and squabbles break out amongst these feathery lake dwellers. We've been learning all their names and so far have identified pochards, mallards, goldeneyes, tufted ducks, swans (an easy one!), canada geese, greylag geese, coots and moorhens.

There are really quite a lot of them out there on the lake, and when somebody starts throwing in food it doesnt take them long to descend on mass to peck at each other's necks and flap to the front of the queue to win the best bits!

A feathery commontion...

Peaceful moments and colourful scenes at sunset...

I like the way that Greylag geese having matching beaks and feet...

When the swans get in a flap it is a beautful sight to behold... but you wouldn't want to get in the way of those powerful wings...

On our first visit to the pond we weren't sure what kind of duck this fellow is....

He has very dark (almost black) feathers and bright yellow eyes with a distinct white marking by his beak. Research suggests he's either a tufted duck or a goldeneye (we think we've seen both kinds but I'm not entirely sure which particular one this is). I like to think of them as Goldeneye ducky spies (the James Bond of ducks) because they slink into sight amidst all the other birds and then swiftly dive down beneath the surface. One minute they are there, the next they are gone! Are they looking for food or spying on the other ducks? What is their mission? It's Top Secret for sure. A little while later their little heads emerge before all of a sudden they disappear again.
International duck of mystery...

Here's a few of them looking mysterious together...


And one last picture for you - a Canada goose...

I love the patterns that raindrops make falling on the lake.

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