Shore birds at the lake

After I ran my errands (I finally found the perfect dress to wear in Curtis' wedding!), I headed over to the Oak Ridge Marina (what's left of it!) and took some photos of the birds with my camera attached to my spotting scope. I know that is a terrible, run-on sentence! My high school English teacher would have had a fit with that!

As soon as I parked the car, two strange ducks came waddling up to the door. They were half-breed white barnyard and Moskovy ducks. This one has the head shape of the white duck and coloring of the Moskovy duck. Note the tiny green feathers on the neck; at least it didn't get the ugly red splotchy markings that the Moskovy's usually have. I'm used to seeing hybrid Mallards, they are not choosy breeders! ;) Here is a pretty female mallard warming her feathers in the sun (right).

I also enjoyed watching the Coots. They are such funny birds with their oddly webbed feet and their red eyes. The sea gulls will not be here much longer, they will be heading north in just a couple of weeks. It seems so strange to see them in the parking lot of Kroger and Walmart all winter long! I didn't realize they have the orange markings around their eyes until I zoomed in on this one with the spotting scope.