Yesterday when I was talking about the Broken River that runs through Benalla, Ellen asked if we’d seen any waterbirds.
There were quite a few swimming around, some I knew others I didn’t.
The first one was new to me, so I had a quick look around the web
and found out its called a Coot
The Eurasian Coot is recognised by its snowy white bill and forehead shield.
The remainder of the bird is dark sooty grey, except for its bright red eye
If you enlarge the first photo you will see the red eye more clearly
The Mallards I knew
But had to look around the web to discover that
Muscovies are easily distinguished from other breeds by their faces
which are devoid of feathers, bright red, flashy and carnunculated (lumpy)
I saw this great big white duck with a yellowy orange beak
which someone told me had the grand name of an
Unlike other ducks, the Indian Runner does not waddle but rather the position of its legs gives them a characteristic running motion.Another peculiarity of the Indian Runner Duck is its shape which is described as being like a wine bottle. They also have long, snake-like necks. When wandering around they walk flat but stand upright when disturbed
Then there was this goose
(of unknown origin)
Looking so angelic swimming about in the water
He kept coming to the edge and looking up and over
watching all that was happening
Once out he seemed to think he was ‘In Charge’
He kept rounding everyone up
(You can see the long shape of the Indian Runner in these photos)
It was quite funny to watch
Made a lovely interlude in our day out
please click on these photos and see the enlargement
Still Waters 