Ducks!

Talk about sightings and get help identifying Plants, Animals, Fish, and Fungi. Share pictures and video.

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Brenda
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Where they Muscovy? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Muscovy_Duck My Peterson guide indicates that they can be white, black or patched.
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Matt
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yes! I wonder why those weren't in my two books. Damn and I hate peterson's guides too!
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Brenda
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Why do you hate Peterson's guides? The only two I have, from college, are eastern birds and eastern trees. The thing that I like about the bird guide is that, unlike Audubon (which I also have), it's not just a collection of photos of the "ideal" specimen. It also does a good job of pointing out features to differentiate between similar species, which are grouped on the same page. I also have the Peterson Bluebird license plate. :)
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Matt
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I have their insect guide (and a medicinal plant guide that doesn't count) and the amount of species total in the book is close to 100. It's really lame.

For birds, I have a guide just for NY birds. I really like that is has large pages with detailed, color illustrations. It's limited to NY birds and has quite a bit of info per species that is specific to this region. It's the one in the bookstore by buliger/kennedy.

I want to get more guides specific to NY. Insects would be nice.
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Buy Sibleys!!!!
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Brenda
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Schuyler Town Talk: This nesting duck seems to enjoy a boat ride every once in a while
June 30, 2008

What brought us together on a sun-bathed morning at Valois Point on Seneca Lake was a nesting Muscovy duck.

Well, it wasn't the duck as much as it was the duck's nesting site. She settled out of sight under the transom and smack in back of the battery of Max Freeman's 16-foot MFG boat.

The 50-horsepower Yamaha engine comes to life quite often because Freeman is an avid fisherman. Makes no difference to the duck. She goes on tending to a batch of eggs while Freeman goes on fishing.

Known as a “wire fisherman,” because of his use of copper wire, with a colorful twin minnow bumping along the bottom, Freeman trolls favorite locales while the duck takes it all in stride.

Freeman and his neighbor, Chuck Calhoun, marvel at the fact that the outboard motor, suddenly coming to life just to the rear of where the duck is nesting, has no noticeable effect whatsoever on the duck. Neither does the ride to the fishing grounds or the steady hum of the motor as Freeman trolls along in search of a trout.

Freeman, a 72-year-old Air Force veteran, competed in the annual Lake Trout Derby during the Memorial Day weekend and had his boat all to himself. The duck moved in earlier this month sometime. As near as one can tell, her nest seems to be lined with soft materials plucked from the boat cushions. Freeman said he noted debris lying about under the transom, looked into the situation and discovered the duck.

It's all OK by him. The depth of the boat has raised a question in the owner's mind, however. Ducklings would never in their first few days make it out of the boat on their own to the lake and a food supply. Using a couple of boards, he has fashioned a walkway for that day when the new family is ready to waddle off into their new world. In the meantime, a few kernels of corn are made available for the expectant mother.

Calhoun said a duck also was interested in his boat and did lay a couple of eggs, but then moved on elsewhere. Properties owned by Freeman and Calhoun front on the lake with ducks regularly drawn to the lawns because of the spill over from bird feeders.

The activity was such last winter that it caught the attention of a bald eagle. The bird was spotted in a tree in front of Freeman's home and a couple photos captured by Calhoun. The bird was feeding on a duck carcass and was last seen flying north along the lake shore.

The nesting duck, tough for photographers to get at because of her location under the transom and behind the battery, is the talk of the neighborhood. If the lake front populace has it right, the duck should be showing off her new family within a few more days. Freeman will be fishing all alone again!

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Mark J
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Matt,

Geez, I hate to be the one to say this, but those are some cute lil ducky-wuckies. I recognize the mallards, but what are the other guys? Any help here, Brenda?

Mark J
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Brenda
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I have no idea what the next to the last photo is, but the little ones are mallard crosses. Ducks are very promiscuous. :lol:
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