Kure-osity - Warren's Black Ducks and More

I call this my "little bit of everything" picture. You may have to blow it up to see it all!! In the background is one of the dolphins that was swimming by -- didn't even notice him in the picture until I came home! In the foreground is a Bufflehead drake flying out of the water with a couple of other Buffleheads hanging around with the mysterious black ducks which we still haven't totally identified but think they are Black Ducks but maybe some that have inbred with something else. We were just clueless and looking at the bird books hasn't helped a lot.
This is another view of those black ducks that we still haven't definitely totally identified!

This was the beach area where the ducks were hanging out right at the south end of Kure Beach right before Ft. Fisher. There is a secret public beach access down there which I hadn't discovered before. It is a very pretty area and I will be back!

The weather continues to be nice and Warren wanted to show me the mysterious black ducks he sees each day on his walk so we headed out to the Ft. Fisher end of the beach. Neither of us had taken a path called the Basin Trail which is a 1.1 mile long sand and boardwalk path ending in the salt marshes at the end of the island. It was an interesting walk and not what either of us had expected (more woods as it started out that way). So a round trip is 2.2 miles and a bit of it is slogging through real sand so we got our day's exercise!

This is part of the pathway of the Basin Trail as we were heading back. I liked all the colors!

This was Warren looking at this WWII bunker which was one of the sights along the walk. Evidently a hermit lived here for 17 years and was really a local tourist attraction. It is hard to believe that anyone lived in this structure -- it has no windows and echoes something fierce. Despite how my dear husband is dressed, the weather is very pleasant!

This was a view on the Basin Trail showing the juxtaposition of the grasses and greenery.

On our way back to find the black ducks, there were a male and female Bufflehead swimming together with another male. I can't get enough of this beautiful duck!





This was one of the many Kildeer Plovers we have seen around here. There were a few of them hanging around the Ft. Fisher fields.

When Warren was trying to spot the black ducks, I saw these ducks out in the water. A nearby man identified them as Hooded Mergansers but I believe they are the Red Breasted Mergansers.

This is one of many, many Northern Mockingbirds we see around here constantly -- those, the Grackles and the Loggerhead Shrikes are the most common birds around here.

Here are the everpresent Grackles.

This is another one of those Loggerhead shrikes. Every time I think I have found a new bird, it turns out to be one of these!!

Back at the ranch, I set together the second set of kalaidoscope (pile and cut) blocks. These all have animals on them. This was my makeshift "design wall" but it got the job done! Now to get them all sewn together and some borders on.