Gary and I count the days of a season by the wildlife that flits through them. Today, we found the blue-winged teal had flown into the marshes beside the road. They'll stick around through the summer and with luck, will escape the fall duck hunters.
The yellow-headed blackbirds were back, early for them, though their red-winged brethren have been around for a least three weeks. It is not a good survival strategy, this arriving late. By the time the blonds show up the best nesting sites have been taken.
Finally, there was the ruddy duck. This little guy's spiky, upright tail is a dead giveaway. They are one of the cutest additions to my annual bird list.
I wondered why they're called ruddy ducks. Gary suggested that the first person who saw one was an Englishman who blurted out, "It's a ruddy duck!" He's such a fount of knowledge, that man.
Next we went over to check out the eagle's nest on Kringle Road. No one can get close to the tree they use, it's set in a watery swamp, but using binoculars, we could see the two eagles watching their nest from an adjacent tree, then one of them flew over to the nest. We assume that the chicks have already hatched. We'll look in on them from time to time.
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