A reflection reminder

Setting full moon illuminates a Mottled male duck at dawn.

Such vivid invites to see new perspectives. What do I mean by "vivid invite?" For me, this photo is a clear invitation to ponder how interconnected we are - humans, wildlife, nature, minerals, sky, and ground. No separation. Co-emerging. That's a reminder to offer care and unconditional positive regard for all.

Mallard, Mottled, American Black Ducks?

It is challenging to identify duck types. 

When I found duck eggs in the butterfly garden near the pond (cracked open as if hatched), I wondered whether it was a Mallard or Mottled duck nest. I needed ID help from the Facebook group, What's this bird? They thought that all were to some degree Mallard and that 3 in this photo were part Mottled Duck. Another felt that the duck furthest in the background was an American Black Duck. 

I linked each to All About Birds (Cornell Bird Lab) so you can look for yourself and take a guess about their ID.

Many species of waterfowl form hybrids, and Mallards are particularly known for this, hybridizing with American Black Duck, Mottled Duck, Gadwall, Northern Pintail, Cinnamon Teal, Green-winged Teal, and Canvasback, as well as Hawaiian Ducks, the Grey Duck of New Zealand, and the Pacific Black Duck of Australia. - All About Birds

The family hangs out in the garden and pond nearby. 

Here is a part of a hatched egg and a view of the setting. See the duck egg under the Muhly Grass?

Here they are nibbling away at the pond edge.

Mottled Ducks consume a variety of plant and animal matter, which varies greatly by region and season. Common plants taken include the seeds and shoots of many grasses, wild millet, smartweed, spikerush, paspalum, sea purslane, wigeon grass, and bulrush...Mottled Ducks meticulously strip grass and rice seeds by rapidly opening and closing the bill along the length of the seedhead. Invertebrate prey include snails, crayfish, beetles, amphipods (zooplankton), dragonflies, and midges. Small fish are also eaten. Breeding females consume mostly invertebrates, as do ducklings. - All About Birds, Mottled Duck

This (mostly) Mottled Duck was quacking. I read that quacks come from females and the raspy-type duck sounds are the males (All About Birds). 

The quintessential duck’s quack is the sound of the female mallard. Females often give this call in a series of 2–10 quacks that begin loudly and get softer. When courting, she may give a paired form of this quack. The male does not quack; instead he gives a quieter, rasping, one- or two-noted call. Ducklings make soft, shrill whistles when alarmed.

Here are two of them hanging out with a Great Egret who moments later caught a fish. 

After I took this photograph (they were across the pond), as quick as they appear to fall asleep, they woke.

An early morning Glossy Ibis gathering (and BB Whistling Duck Family update)

Glossy Ibis

I continue to visit the pond to check on the Black-Bellied Whistling Duck Family. Today, new friend Faith from Springlakes and I checked the pond at noon, later than I usually walk. We didn't see them. However, yesterday is a different story.

I found a group of birds hanging out!

I noticed Glossy Ibis, mostly juveniles. Oh, and one Common Gallinule (notice the bird with red on its bill in the above photograph).

Mallard  

Mottled Duck.

When the Whistling family paddled up, they "asked" that the other ducks leave. 

They did. All clear for the chicks to come ashore. 

And then mama stood with this cuddle of chicks who fell fast asleep.

Then this. They woke and stood in a strike-a-pose moment, looking in one direction. Snap. What a great photo. 

Energized, they ran in my direction. Even with my long range lens, it felt like the family was heading over to say hello.

But no. They were heading to jump in the pond.

Florida Mottled Duck pair scout garden beds for nesting sites

I saw one duck in the parking lot and then heard a second one in the garden. I think they were scouting for a nest site (March 2016). From a distance, I thought they were Mallard hens. 

Now I think it is a pair of Florida Mottled Ducks. Mottled Duck drakes and hens are hard to tell apart except for their bills (male/yellow; female/orange mottled with brown).

If I've identified this couple correctly, we're lucky they're here in Wildewood. A loss of wetland habitat has led to decrease in populations. Numbers have fluctuated widely in response to periodic drought conditions. That, and Mallards introduced as pets frequently interbreed with Mottled Ducks and because of this hybridization, Mottled Ducks are on the 2014 State of the Birds Watch List. (The State Watch is a list of species most in danger of extinction without significant conservation action.)

I like to watch Mottled Duck eat. They're called dabblers because they eat while swimming in shallow water. They dip their head forward and under water and when they do, their tail tips up. Ducks are categorized into divers and dabblers.

And I like to watch them take flight. Like Mallards and other dabblers, they take off vertically from the water.

I hope they build a nest in my garden. Breeding begins in January and continues through July, peaking in March and April. They like to make their nests in shallow grass depressions that the female lines with her down. Their nests are usually within 600 feet of water (Smithsonian Birds of Florida). 

Heading back to the pond.