Another Basin Walk but Today a Little Sunshine!

It was a beautiful day today even though it wasn't supposed to be.  I headed out early to walk the Basin Trail which will now be my main walking trail I think as it is filled with birds (although most are the annoying Yellow-Rumped Warblers which are everywhere).  The light was good today so I got lots of Hooded Merganser pictures and they are slowly being relegated to my BIL Bill's flivvers as there are so many on the East Pond!  He will definitely find his way into a quilt one day!!

Here is the female of the species!!  I think a lot of the mergansers are first year birds.

Here is one of the Hooded Mergansers with his crest down swimming with a Male Ruddy Duck.  There were quite a few of those today as well, male and female.

I think this is a Greater Scaup from the shape of his head.  I am trying to take pictures of all my ducks with this new lens which I LOVE.

This is the best picture I have gotten of a female Bufflehead.  There were no males down there though and they are a bit showier.

I keep taking pictures of the small birds I see and they always end up being Yellow Rumped Warblers!!  You can see a little bit of the yellow that gives him his name in this picture.

On my way back on the path, I ran into a man who said there was a snake up ahead figuring that I would be afraid.  Of course, I just looked at it as a photo opportunity!!!  This I believe is a Red Bellied Water Snake out sunning on such a nice day!

Of course I couldn't resist heading down to the Ft. Fisher boat ramp.  Pied Billed Grebes had joined the usual Horned Grebes and a male Hooded Merganser was hidden under the dock.  I spotted this Red Breasted Merganser female in among all the Grebes!

A Forster's Tern was diving for food.

The pretty little Snowy Egret was back joining the Kingfisher who was again there on the dock.

Well, it is supposed to rain tomorrow but no more ultra cold weather until next weekend.  Maybe I will get some quilting done, maybe....