There is a little park nearby where alot of waterfowl of various types gather here, including of course, DUCKS!  Thought I'd share some photos of my little buddies from the park with you:

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Hi Tracy,

I didn't know that among your many talents, you are a GREAT photographer.  I love the way you use the light.   

Your pictures are so good that I think your feathered buddies may just walk out of the photos and quack at me.   

Whenever I try to take pictures of my duck friends, it looks like they were taken by another duck, and let me tell you, it's hard to handle a camera with wings!    

If I can figure out how to do it and you don't mind, I'd like to "pin" them.

Thank you so much for posting them.   

Lee     

 [ send green star]

Tracy, these are such wonderful pictures!  for sharing them with us

~Lisa

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Lee and Lisa, thanks so much for the kind words about my photos!  I am glad you liked them! 

  Lee!  Every once in a while, I get lucky with a few photos and they come out good!  I think the secret is to go digital--I really did horribly with photography with regular 35mm cameras.  Once I got my digital camera last year, I started taking pics of everything!  LOL 

 And the best part is: the delete button!  If you mess up, just hit the button!  I love that!  And there are so many more lighting and focusing options with digital.  Plus, the software to edit out the weak areas!

About the pinning--feel free Lee! 

Thanks again Lee and Lisa!

 [ send green star]  [ accepted]

All pinned...thanks, Tracy.      

Lee   

 [ send green star]

LOL I know when I had a plain old 35mm, I rarely took pics of anything other than special occasions like holidays and birthdays...but when I got my digital camera, I went nuts with it!  It is so great to have a button!  You can hardly ever take a bad pic...and you can have a great number of pics to take in one session because there is no worry about running out of film!  I can't believe I waited so long to go digital.....makes it so much easier!  And with the editing software....it's so cool!

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

This makes me miss my guys back in FL.

These are great pictures.

Thanks.

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

WOW Haven't visited this thread in quite some time!  Druci, you never posted the pics?  Or did you post them on another thread? 

You know the sad thing........is that my city enforced a new law....NO FEEDING OF ANIMALS IN PUBLIC AREAS...specifically parks like this one above.  Oh how I miss bringing food to the park and feeding the birds.

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

I'm so glad you visited again!  Over the past month I've been such a bad host, and I was afraid no one would ever visit again.    

I'm having the worst fall ever.  I have bad sinuses, you see, and I have been so sick that sometimes I couldn't even read much less post.  

I hope I'm back now!  

Anyway, why did they outlaw feeding?  Do the animals have enough food in the environment or is it landscaped for humans?  

Druci, where are you????  

Lee    

 [ send green star]

Oh Lee, you are not a bad host at all!  And I am right there with you with the sinus problems!  My allergies have been kicking my butt.....my eyes itch so much I want to just scratch them out of head!  I've made them swell up several times in the past weeks just by excessive rubbing.  And I've been sneezing alot and my throat is always itching, and I can't scratch it other than by swallowing rapidly. ARGH! 

As for the outlawing of the feeding, it was brought on by a few things.  One, feeding them has encouraged entire flocks by the hundreds to stay in NJ all year long, instead of flying south like they normally would, because they know they have a sure meal.  Canada geese especially.  Unfortunately, what people feed the geese is mostly bread, which isn't all that good for them.  Two, feeding them brings on the next obvious reaction...Poop.  The park has a rather small lake, and the grounds are mainly for people, with bbq areas, and small rides and slides for the children.  There is an open theater of sorts there too.  The excessive waste made by the birds reportedly muckies up the lake, and gets all over where people walk.  But there are plenty of grassy and willowy areas too.  I guess I understand where they are coming from, but I still miss feeding my duckies and geese, oh and the beautiful swans and even the seagulls come by sometimes.  

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Tracy has taken more pics and will be posting them soon!

Lee  

 [ send green star]

Is that pekin still at the park in these photos? It looks like he has a bone infection in he toe

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Is that pekin still at the park in these photos? It looks like he has a bone infection in he toe

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Is that pekin still at the park in these photos? It looks like he has a bone infection in he toe

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Is that pekin still at the park in these photos? It looks like he has a bone infection in he toe

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Is that pekin still at the park in these photos? It looks like he has a bone infection in he toe

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Is that pekin still at the park in these photos? It looks like he has a bone infection in he toe

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

I hope it's just a healed fracture.

Tracy has taken more pics of the ducks at her local park.  She is uploading them as she can (slow computer) and hopefully will post them soon.  Maybe we can tell by them.

I'm sorry it took me so long to answer.  I've had both computer problems and health problems.

Lee  

 [ send green star]

Hi all!  Soooo sorry it has taken me soooo very long to get back to you!  I've been so busy raising and taking care of critters, and then I've had work issues, and now I am having internet connectivity issues! GRRR!  But I am here now, and have FINALLY uploaded my pics! 

As for the injured duck, hard to tell if it is still injured...so many birds injured.....to be honest with you all, going to that park breaks my heart sometimes.  When I visit, I can't even begin to tell you of how many waterfowl I see injured in some way....from fishing line/hook injuries to broken wings and legs....limping birds galore.....I wish I could monitor the park on a daily basis to take care of those poor babies.   I'm sure that they are monitored, but probably not as often as they should be.

Below are some of the pics I took in my recent trip.....pretty much missed the baby rearing time....EXCEPT for one lone mother duck....who had I believe eight babies!  But the babies were just about as big as she was lol.  But still precious nonetheless.  Hope you all enjoy the pics....sorry again for taking so long!

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

they are just beautiful - thanks Tracy

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

look at all the hybrids!  I noticed some of the geese are banded too. 

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Thanks so much Lucky & Jennifer...glad you like them!  Yes, alot of the geese, especially the Canadian geese, are banded. 

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

You have so many kinds of geese.  We only have the Canada.  The ducks are lovely, of course...especially the baby mallards.  Neat hybrids, too.  It's just something different everywhere you look.  

Thank you for posting them. 

Lee    

 [ send green star]

You are very welcome Lee, glad you enjoyed them!  

 Quick question....the hybrids...are they what happens when Canada Geese mate with the white geese?  I was just curious if they ever mate with other types of geese, since some of them look part Canada goose/ part white goose. 

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Yes, sometimes Canada geese do breed with other types of geese... but here's a surprise.  I think (may be wrong) the hybrids may be Greylag-Canada crosses.  Greylag geese (5th pic up from the bottom) often flock with and breed with Canadas.     

The Greylag goose is the original wild goose from which all of our different types of domestic geese came.  The beautiful white guys are Embden geese.  They are a type of domestic goose which were originally dumped or escaped.

Lee       

 [ send green star]

Oh how interesting!  I never knew that...and I never knew what my type of local geese were called.    Learn something new every day!

On a trip to the park several years ago, I took close up pics of some geese, and they had these strange "knobs" on their noses.  Is that a different type of goose altogther, or just a variation of the one of the types you mentioned? Or is it just something found on the males to impress mates with? I always found it very eye catching--I don't remember seeing any of these geese on my last trip to the park.  Such beautiful blue eyes on these geese too!

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

The goose with the knob is a male white China goose.  It is a different breed than the others.  The females also have a knob.  It is just smaller.

The blue eyes are very interesting to me too.  They look like human eyes!  

Lee  

 [ send green star]

Wow, never heard of those types of geese before!   And yes, their eyes are very human-like--really beautiful!  Thanks for answering my question--learn something new everyday!

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

wow! these are simply amazing photos! i love the blue eyed knobby ducks! what a park you must have to have so many great waterfowl represented. what a treat to see these photos!! thank you so very very much! ShiningStar

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

What beautiful shots of the ducks and geese, Tracy!   Simply amazing!

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]

Thanks ShiningStar & Vicky!  Glad you enjoyed them!    I gotta get back to the park and take some more pics soon.

 [ send green star]

 [ accepted]