This last month I have been witnessing a huge migration of the ducks and geese when I visited a poplar pond. This pond had good feeding in the grain fields beside it and also in the pond itself for part of the pond was made up of a flooded area in the bush and a strip of land which had lots of shallow water with vegetation underneath. This must have made very good feed for you would see lots of ducks with their heads tucked down and bottoms up feeding. The geese on this pond had come in on mass which looked like what I termed a goosenado! On my last post about a visit to this pond here I shared a video of this goosenado plus lots of photos of the geese in flight, just landing on the water or taking off. This time around I'm going to share more of the ducks and geese and all the going ons at the pond.
Pond Alive With Migratory Ducks and Geese
Section of Pond Mostly Full of Geese
Evening Sun Shining on the Canada Geese
Close Up of Canada Goose Stretching It's Wings
Even Closer View of Canada Geese Stretching Their Wings
We had been having below freezing weather and ice was starting to form on the pond. The ice was thick enough to hold the ducks as they walked upon it or came up to stand and groom themselves.
Ducks Walking and Grooming on Newly Formed Ice Geese on Sandbar Behind
Although most of the geese were off swimming in the water some came to the sand bar to rest and groom. Also along that sandbar were ducks feeding in the shallow waters.
Geese Resting on Sandbar, Some Swimming in Background, Ducks Feeding at It's Edge
It's so funny to see the ducks bobbing up and down on the water, bottoms up feeding!
13 Ducks in a Row Bottoms Up Feeding
Canada Geese on Sandbar Resting While Ducks Feed in the Shallow Waters Surrounding It
Group of Ducks Bottoms Up Feeding Plus 2 Heads Down Feeding, 1 Resting
Group of Mallard Ducks Bottoms Up Feeding, Couple of Males Looking On
Close Up Mallard Ducks Feeding By Edge of Pond
A large flock of mallard ducks were found at the edge of the pond where there was no ice yet feeding and also taking shelter in the bush there. They stayed in this area until the sun was setting then they moved in to the center of the pond where the other ducks were.
Flock of Mallard Ducks Taking Shelter in the Bush
On that bar of land the geese came to groom and rest, they were joined by different ducks.
Geese Grooming and Resting on Sandbar Joined By Ducks
Blue Winged Teal Swimming With Canada Geese
Blue Winged Teal Coming In To Groom and Rest on Sandbar
Close Up Blue Winged Teal Ducks Grooming Themselves While Others Are Feeding
When the sun began to set and it was getting colder and darker most of the geese left the pond. There were only a couple left in among the ducks.
Lone Goose With Mallard Ducks
Close Up Canada Geese Grooming While Ducks Are Swimming Around Feeding
Male Mallard Duck With Wings Stretched Out, Other Mallards Swimming, Goose Resting
Lone Canada Goose Grooming It's Chest Line of Ducks Feeding Behind Him
In among the ducks and geese I spied something that wasn't a duck or goose. When I looked closer at the photos I realized there was a muskrat right along with the ducks and lone goose. Can you spy it in the photos below?
Muskrat by Canada Goose Walking Ducks Heads Down Bottoms Up Feeding
Another View of Muskrat Among Ducks Feeding Goose Walking
Close Up Side View of Muskrat Eating Sitting on Ice
The muskrat sat by the ducks and goose for quite awhile but eventually swam away.
Muskrat Swimming Away While Male Mallard Duck Looks On
When it began to get darker and colder the ducks from the other areas of the pond began to move towards the more central location that had the sandbar surrounded by open water.
Pair of Mallards Walking Across Ice Starting to Form on Pond
Here is that group of mallard ducks that had been feeding by the shore...
Flock of Mallard Ducks Swimming Towards Open Water in Center of Pond
Coming from another direction a flock of ring-necked ducks which had been feeding in a different section of the pond came swimming into that more central location with the other ducks.
End of Day Flock of Ring-Necked Ducks Come Together Where Other Ducks Are Congregating
Another View of Ring-necked Ducks Coming Together By a Couple of Canada Geese
Family of Ring-necked Ducks Swimming in a Row
Close Up Young Ring-necked Ducks 1 Starting to Dive Underwater
Close Up Male Ring-necked Duck
Close Up Juvenile Ring-necked Duck
Here is one of the final views of the pond before I headed home. You can see the different groups of ducks moving towards that more central spot where there was a band of land surrounded by water.
I thought for sure this would be the last I saw of the ducks and geese for the ice was forming on the pond and the temperature for the next while wasn't getting above freezing. To my surprise, a week later I stopped to check on the pond and there were still ducks managing to keep some of the water open in that central location. They can stay on freezing water and keep it open by paddling with one foot, even when they are sleeping. I'll be sharing those photos of the ducks on the freezing water (geese were all gone) in my #SublimeSunday post tomorrow. Stay tuned!
Bird images are for the #FeatheredFriends community hosted by @melinda010100
The photos were taken with my Canon PowerShot SX60 HS.
A lot of lovely Feathered Friends! I love the shots of the mallards bottoms up! Your tikimg was great on that one! We have seen a few snow flurries here, but it has not been cold enough yet for ice.
Thanks so much for posting to the #featheredfriends community!
#posh
@porters is @GrowOwnGarden on Twitter
Ice on the pond already! Sure looks like early winter up there. All the duck bottoms in the air are funny!
great post !
We appreciate your work and your post was manually curated by @tibfox from the DNA team!
Reach us on Discord to learn more about the project!