More Duck Tails

Boy those baby mallards are getting big. Guess they are almost as large as Mom and soon we expect to see them racing laps around the lake. That's her in the forefront. I don't think they know they can fly quite yet. Twelve of them still quacking.
We had some excitement over the weekend as a loose dog decided to go chase birds in the lake. The owners got him out after a lot of hollering. Hard to see him in the water, but the gator and ducks all knew he was there. The moorehens buzzed him a few times. You can see his head sticking up at the edge of the spatterdock. Glad he didn't drown in the muck. I bet swimming in hydrilla is ruff. He emerged with a nice fresh coat of muck!

It was pretty neat to watch the mallards during the commotion. They all grouped real tight and decided the water was safer than land. They easily could outdistance the wayward pup. The baby moorehens are even funnier. They are so tiny they just run across the top of the water by standing on the hydrilla. Moorehen chicks really scoot. They are in the water more than the ducks.
The muscovy herd is now at thirteen down from the original seventeen. They are a bit behind the mallards in size and a hoot to watch. They really scurry around. Sometimes mom duck looses half of them. After about five or ten minutes it, her head stretches up and she gets concerned. After it dawns on her, she goes hunting to round them up. When she gets close to the lost half they come racing out of the weeds. Now where did I leave seven quacking baby ducks ..... Hmmmm.....