Some of the new sounds in my life are the quacking and honking of ducks and geese. I am learning some of the habits of these creatures, as I see them gather, feed, fly and play on our river. They arrive in this December season about 8 am and then fly away, somewhere, and return around dinner time. I am not sure what they do in between, but their numbers have greatly diminished since fall.

These little darlings who have stayed around are noisy. If you don’t have to arise before 8am, you could count on their wild honks as an alarm clock. Really, they are that dependable. Not an expert on discerning a quack from a honk yet, but I will get this too, someday.

It seems some of the ducks and, I think mostly geese, flew somewhere else for the winter. I need to get a close up sometime of every type, so I can learn which are geese, which are ducks, and what types they are.  

It is all so new and it’s not as easy to tell a duck from a goose as you might think. I mean it’s not like one is white and one is black.  OK. Maybe it’s the neck. Help! I told  you I am blind.

 My husband and I speculate that the local geese fly south, but maybe the Canada geese don’t want such a radical temperature change as the southern winter, and settle for our Connecticut temps for their winter abode. Not really sure if ducks migrate like geese. Again, so much to learn. And, by the way, we used to say Canadian geese, but the correct name, we have now learned, is Canada geese.

I see black and white water fowl–ducks or geese, not sure which is which–and they seem to arrive at different times. Sometimes, in the day time, some of them, both white and black, seem to return for some frolicking on the river. They dive and immerse and return to river top.

   It also seems they arrive when the river is calmer. Lately, we have had some serious winds and rain, and the ducks duck out for that. Not completely sure. I am new at this duck-watching business. I will keep you posted as I get more informed.