Sorting pics today, don't think I shared this here yet. This is 12/23 on Cape San Blas (small peninsula just SE of Panama City.) I counted 79 birds having a major meeting. They are not all the same kind but I think most of them were brown pelicans.

@Almostdone - fabulous capture!

@purpleinopp - the coastal version of telephone wires! Looks like it was a lovely winter vacay 🩵

Thank you for the acorn, Zoë! It was great except for the very windy storm on Christmas day. But I had a lot to do in the kitchen anyway. Part of my gift for my fam was making a lot of good food. Always tricky in a strange kitchen but it went well.

You're welcome, Tiffany!

Interesting gathering, makes me wonder if fishing boats came there and the birds knew there'd be scraps dumped or something else to make good fishing for the birds.

I have no idea but I'd love to spend more time there, investigating. I suspect the fishing is good in the shallow water there, for human or fishing birds. Those piers are attached to individual rental houses. This is the pier attached to the house we rented. I put solar lights on it while we were there. At the end of it, the water is only about 18" deep.

I initially thought this was a hybrid Mallard. Nope. Just learned it's an American widgeon, Mareca americana, aka "baldpate." I'd like to get a better picture of its striking wing feathers.



American coot (don't know if it's old ...🙄)


This comical trio never broke up. They stayed in perfect formation all around the pond

Thank you for the Acorns @purpleinopp , @NMoasis and @Murky! Also the kind comments. The docks always hold wonderful surpirses. Zoe, I love the ducks. I spent some time this winter shooting what we had as visitors here. I just love that Widgeon!
These are Lesser Scaup with a hen Ringneck traveling along. The Scaup are round little butter balls.

Zoë and Suz, those are all terrific photos! The duck photos are making me antsy for a bit nicer weather so I can get back to those longer lake walks.

Nice, Suz, and thank you for the ! I've been thinking I should try capturing the geese with video — somehow still photos don't capture the drama of the flapping and splashing and honking of geese taking off from water.

Murky said: Zoë and Suz, those are all terrific photos! The duck photos are making me antsy for a bit nicer weather so I can get back to those longer lake walks.

Nancy, The outing to the pond Sunday where I saw the widgeon was sunny but stinkin' cold! Snow is still melting from our little storm a few days ago. My daughter and I tromped out to the Rio Grande, not far from the duck pond, and decided it was too cold and muddy to stick around.

Great geese pics! They are raucous!! Now that you mention it, I miss the geese. Since I started working @ home, I don't see them going to their daytime pond in the morning, back to the state park in the evening. That is what they do while they are here for winter. But soon I will see a few flocks headed north from places farther to the south. There is nothing that compares to a "V" of geese flying overhead.

This makes me want to watch that movie about the little girl and the geese she finds. Fly Away Home. For anyone who hasn't seen it, I recommend it, loosely based on a true story.
https://istruestory.com/is-fly....

Zoe, your ducks are Not in a row, but, close formation ain't bad

Sally, I think they're Geese in a Group 😄

...or are they? Hybrid somethings Lotta crossbreeding seems to be taking place in that pond. Previous time I visited there were several versions of mallards in different colors and patterns with bizarre topknots.

Business in front, party in the back!

Lol, here's a heckuva party in back

The geese are cool. I have never seen them, but I bet they are raucous! The green headed duck does look like a hybrid. Nature is nature, ....

It's a domestic Mallard, crested variety. They come in all the various color combos and body types.

Thanks Cal! I've just spent an entertaining several minutes looking at pictures of crested mallards. Because several of the crests that I spotted were lopsided or uneven, I figured they were aberrations

Like this guy