What a lovely bonnet you have

So, what is fuzzy, adorable, has a black-belly and whistles?  What, you don't know?  Well, a baby Black-bellied Whistling Duckling, of course!

I had better shots today, but I just loved these fluffy little BB whistling duck babies, especially the one with the weed-bonnet.  Mama was keeping  a sharp eye while the little ones dove below the surface, bobbing up like little fuzzy corks mere seconds later.  It was quite comical to watch them disappearing then suddenly reappearing.  After a suitable snack time, mama led them back to shore for a little rest.

Meanwhile, on a nearby section of the pond an "otter" arrived, delighting us all as we'd been told that a pair of otters was in residence.  We were all madly clicking away, yapping about how wonderful the otter was when a local quietly said - "that's not an otter; it's a Nutria".  Damn.  Felt a bit foolish, but also had a good laugh on ourselves about the whole thing.  And, as a bonus, we all have great photos of a nutria now.  I'll put one in Extra.

I'm off to bed now, and will be ready to start the day bright and early tomorrow - my last day here.  It's hard to believe that our fifth annual BoBB gathering is soon coming to an end.  I wonder where we'll be next time...

xo
Debbi