Beneath the Wing - II

 

A young male Muscovy duck folded into himself, emerald and violet feathers layered like scales of polished stone. Only one eye remained visible — rimmed in coral, watchful even in stillness.

Generally, life is good.

Beneath the Wing - I

 

This Muscovy duck is a fully mature drake.

 

His caruncles are still developing and are currently limited to a small "mask" around the eye. As he matures, those red fleshy bits will likely expand across his face.

Generally, life is good.

Winter Has Come - II. Inhabitants of Beau Pond

The female and male Wood Ducks are walking on ice toward the water.  Walking on ice isn't easy, it's slippery but ducks are careful and slow.

 

 

His majesty the male Muscovy Duck.  This time he behaved politely and didn't attack me.

The female Wood duck on the left is giving a cold shoulder to the male.

Canada Goose is stretching his wings.

His majesty male Muscovy duck continues to rest in the snow. 

Generally, life is good!

Female Muscovy Duck with Her Mate

 

The female Muscovy duck I saw last Sunday was with her mate.  When a time will come the female will build a nest for her nestlings and will care for them on her own.  The ducklings after they fledge will maintain the strong bond with each other even after their mother will leave.

The female duck was a true beauty, very feminine and slender.  

Perhaps, I made her a little bit nervous and she raised the crest of feathers on her head.

 

The female Muscovy Ducks don't mate for life like Canada geese.   

It's time for a nap.

The male Muscovy Duck.

It's interesting that Muscovy Ducks are the quietest of all ducks.  Geese are noisy, female Mallard ducks are noisy but the Muscovy Ducks are overall quiet.

Generally, life is good!

The Female Muscovy Duck

 

The female Muscovy Duck I met a few days ago was smaller than the male and her red caruncles on her face were different. She had a strikingly white head and light brownish plumage.

I don't know how the muscovies found their way to the Beau Park but they are comfortable there and aren't going to leave this place.

Muscovy ducks live 10 to 12 years.  They build their nests in cavities and hollows of mature trees, 65 feet above the ground.  The female is usually very faithful to her single nest side over her lifetime and she defends her nest and cares for the nestlings on her own.

Generally, life is good!

The Male Muscovy Duck

 

The male Muscovy Duck behavior can quickly turn violent when he starts to compete for space. Being territorial by nature the male often attacks people. 

Two years ago I approached the male Muscovy Duck and it annoyed him. The Duck walked toward me and never let me go.  Chasing the Duck away with my camera didn't work and I had to take off my backpack (it's big) and show it to the Duck.  It was a threat and it worked, the Muscovy Duck left me alone. Since that I was careful around Muscovy Ducks and tried not to annoy them.

Two days ago the male Muscovy Duck I met at the Beau Park wasn't aggressive and I had an opportunity to take a few close ups of this bird.

The red caruncles around the face of Muscovy Ducks sometimes called a face mask.  These caruncles help Muscovies to keep their feathers clean when they dig in the mud.

The Muscovy Duck is the largest duck in the North America.

Generally, life is good!

Towhees are Back!

A Towhee. He has a sunflower seed in his mouth.

A female Muscovy duck. 

A Black-capped Chickadee.

A Towhee with a small seed in his mouth.

It's freezing cold and it was snowing for a few days. I didn't drive far away, just visited our local pond. 

The pond is frozen and only a little part of it has water. All ducks and geese are sharing the tiny space with water and Muscovy ducks among them. They are definitely staying at the pond for the winter. 

I walked to the feeders and photographed a Towhee and a Black-capped Chickadee. Later I took a few pictures of female Muscovy duck. Probably, it's not very exciting but I had a great time being with birds, watching them and photographing.

Not a Pleasant Moment

I photographed before these Muscovy ducks but this time I did something wrong which made a male Muscovy duck very angry that he started to challenge me.

The ducks were on the bridge enjoying warm sunny day but soon the female duck (photo above) decided to leave the bridge.  She was brave and walked directly toward me not being concerned about my presence.  Everything was peaceful and without problems.

This guy wasn't willing to follow the same path. At first he tried to get over the bridge into the water but changed his mind.  I should leave the bridge when he decided to walk toward me but I didn't.

When the duck reached the bridge's end he was annoyed and unhappy. He approached me and didn't let me go. That was a very odd situation. I tried to chase him away with my camera but it didn't work.

Then I took off my backpack and said to the duck, that I am going to fight seriously and showed him my backpack. I didn't have any idea what I would do next. It was just a threat. And it worked, the duck looked at my backpack (it's big) and finally let me go.

The male Muscovy duck is a very beautiful and very protected of his mate.

She is also very attractive!  My guess is that these two birds are going to stay during winter at our local pond.

The Stars of the Show at the Beau Pond

Today I saw two ducks I have never seen before at the Beau pond.  They were so different among local crowd.  How did they find their way to our local pond?  Are they going to stay there for the winter?  Or they are transitory?

Later I tried to find out what kind of ducks they are and wasn't successful. Only much later I got their names.  A friend wrote that these birds are Muscovy ducks.

I believe that the darkest duck is the male and grayish is the female but not sure.  Well, these ducks were the stars of the show today at the our local pond.