I went out to feed the Pelican Bay critters when I arrived at work on Wednesday and was greeted by an old friend, the Great Blue Heron.
She looked a bit frazzled and hungry. She nailed two fish rather quickly, but my camera was in the office.
I looked across the water and saw two ducks swimming my way, at first I thought they were young Muscovy's, but as they got closer I realized they were too pretty.
They came right out of the water, walked around me, then stood behind me looking up towards me like a puppy begging for food. I handed one a cracker and he took it from me, gently. The smaller one was a bit more shy and wouldn't come up to me, I just tossed crackers her way.
Meanwhile the Red-winged blackbirds are flying around in a craze, they don't like all these birds around their tree. I felt like I was in a nature movie.
I went inside and grabbed my camera, these duck like creatures were beautiful, I wanted photos. I went back out with the camera and they came running towards me, again like a puppy. I think the camera scared them, when I raised it to my face, they both stopped. It was cute.
We made friends again quickly though, I was able to hand feed both creatures by the time our photo session was over. I was just taken by their colors and gentleness.
I noticed they didn't look like a typical duck, small bills & longer legs then ducks. Everyone at the office commented on how pretty they are, but no one knows what type of water foul they are.
This morning I was looking at some archives of footage from a watering hole in Africa and there, in living color was my mysterious duck! An Egyptian Goose. I thought, no way, that's in Africa, that can't be the same animal.
Steve and I researched the Egyptian Goose, we found photos, yep I took photos of Egyptian Geese! We also learned they aren't even supposed to be in the United States, (except a few at zoos), let alone Daytona Beach. Some in California seemed to have escaped captivity and live on a pond. Two were spotted in New Jersey. These birds are from Africa and also reside in England.
What are these two lovely geese doing so far away from home? How did they end up at Pelican Bay in Daytona Beach, Florida? I'll never know the answer, but I am so glad I got to meet and photograph them.
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