Canvasback and Friends -- the Last of the Canvasback

This is a slightly different view of Ft. Fisher at dusk!  There were no clouds to make for the colorful sunsets but I liked this view.

The rest of the pictures today are of the Canvasback which had been visiting at Carolina Beach Lake.  This was the last day that I saw him and his three female friends and the conditions were perfect for picture taking and he was only about 30 feet away from me for quite some time.  I have only seen a Canvasback once before when I took one of those birding trips but this is the first male Canvasback I have seen and he is beautiful!  Here he is hanging out with the Coots.  The rest of the pictures are all of him and his friends!

 Loved the background in this shot and you can see so much detail.

 Here he is with the reflection of the bright Carolina blue sky.

I caught him busily cleaning himself.

 Just another shot with nice background.

 This is one of his lady friends which is a Redheaded Duck female.  There were three of them that seemed to stay with him if the other Coots and Mallards wandered off in a different direction.

 This is most of the gang.  For some reason, the Mallards were hanging out separately this day.  You can see his lady friends in among the Coots.

 This domestic White Tufted duck has been a constant visitor at the Lake for years.  I haven't ever seem any signs of breeding with the Mallards though.

The Ibis were hanging out as well by the side of the Lake basking in our very warm weather!!

We have had 70s almost every day in December which is very unusual!  It makes up for the last two years which were pretty cool by comparison.

I saw this Double Crested Cormorant hanging out at the boat launch area at Ft. Fisher.  There has been no Dowitchers this year or Red Knots and the Marbled Godwits have disappeared as well.  I think duck season has a lot to do with this!  I still see the Oystercatchers at low tide and there  have been Horned Grebes pretty consistently as well.