Sinking Ponds, East Aurora, New York

The Sinking Ponds Sanctuary in East Aurora, New York is an area my husband knew about, but had not visited in years.  When I found out about it I thought it would be interesting to see.  There are tails of quicksand there, and it is swampy.  It is a beautiful area as well.  Here is a teasel plant that was near the parking lot.

Deer reside almost everywhere.

This has to be the ugliest duck I have ever seen.  It is a Muscovy Duck. There was a whole flock of them. The native birds are found only is south Texas, domestic birds may be seen in parks across North America.  The feral variety widely introduced to parks and ponds, especially in Florida. The Feral Muscovy is big bodied, and blotched with white to almost all white.  Bare skin on face is usually red.  There were probably a dozen of these birds that came to shore.  They did not seem afraid of any of the people that were there. In fact one even hopped on to a picnic table where a couple was sitting.  Personally, I thought they were scary.

This line of Canadian Geese also came across the pond to the shore.

A little information about the Sinking Ponds.  Each time we go back to East Aurora, I now take time to visit them.  I have seen a couple of amazing and new birds for me.

Knapweed

Belted Kingfisher  Large blue gray bird with white belly.  Broad blue gray breast band and a ragged crest that can be raised or lowered at will. Large head with long black, thick bill.  This was a nice surprise.

A view across the pond.

Dragonfly sitting and sunning himself.

Turtle sunning on a sunken log.

Purple Loosestrife

Look what caught my eye on the way out of the sanctuary. A Green Heron sitting in a tree.

I had thought it was an American Bittern, but this guy is bigger.

He was preening himself.

Then turned his back on me.

He likes to hung for fish, but there were none in this tree that day!

Behind my brother-in-laws house someone has planted a whole field of wild flowers, mostly black-eyed Susan.

Some fleabane

Wild lupine.

Thistle

Coneflowers and Black-eyed Susan

This grasshopper was just sitting there for me.

Indian Blanket

A different variety of Black-eyed Susan.

That field was just so pretty. I love to take pictures of flowers, can you tell?

Feathers and Flowers from New York

Green Heron
A short stocky heron with a blue-green back, rust red neck and chest.  Dark green crest, and short legs, normally yellow. It is said the legs will turn bright orange during the breeding season

Green Heron
He hunts for fish and aquatic insects by waiting along a shore or wades stealthily. Has been known to place an object like an insect on the water surface to attract fish to catch.
We saw this one at the Sinking Ponds, East Aurora, New York.

While traveling some back roads around East Aurora, we encountered an 8 point buck and his harem. This was the first time we had seen any bucks.  On this trip we saw 2.

Here he is with two of his harem.  There were 11 females and fawns. Amazing!

Zinnia and bee

Nasturtium

Butterfly Bush

Black-eyed Susan's

Sebastopal Goose
The frizzled and curly white feathers on this unusual looking breed make it appear as though it had walked backwards in a windstorm.Their feathers will grow until they touch the ground.

Sebastopal Goose
They were in a domestic setting at Fly Creek Cider Mill, Fly Creek, New York

Crested White Duck

1. This duck is of Pekin breeding.  The tuft of feathers on its head is recognized as a point of attraction is selectively bred for.  This breed has not been extensively bred as not all eggs become fertile.  The best specimens of this breed usually run about one pound lighter then the best Pekins.

These ducks were in a domestic setting at the Fly Creek Cider Mill in Fly Creek, New York

Wild Sweet Pea
They were still blooming by the road side.  They looked so pretty.

We came across a small field of Sunflowers,

This variety had the dark brown centers

Another variety of Sunflower

Zinnia

All of these specimans were spotted on our trip east this past week.
Have a great day!
Mary 

Flowers and Robins

Easter lilies

Black-eyed Susan's

Sweet Peas

We have a robin's nest in our crabapple tree in the front yard.  I have seen 2 baby robin's in the nest.

Mom just flew back to the nest to feed the babies.