The many faces of a vireo

Birds' faces are frozen in place. They cannot smile, frown or otherwise change their expressions. Yet a certain tilt of a vireo's head can cause us humans to imagine that they can.

This White-eyed Vireo emerged from a thicket for only a few seconds as I feverishly snapped a burst of photos.















Back at home, we have a new addition (besides our latest great-granddaughter!). A boater damaged the Mallard decoy which serves as a float for our lawn irrigation system, so it was replaced by a goose. No sooner had it been put into service when a Double-crested Cormorant with emerald jewel eyes found it to be a convenient roost:





The Palm Warblers are migrating away to the north. This was the last one I saw, on March 28:





Great Crested Flycatchers are passing through...



...as are Northern Parula warblers:



A Raccoon paused on its way across the path:



A Black-and-White Warbler crept along the trunk of a small tree:





Mottled Ducks were courting. Two males chased three females:



Plumages of both sexes are similar. The two males have plain greenish yellow to orange bills, while the bills of the females are darker orange with black markings. The variable color of the wing speculum is due to reflection of sunlight):



Two pairs of Mottled Ducks lift off. Note the color of their bills. The males are often slightly larger than the females:



It was not a good day for reflections on the lake:



Before sunrise on March 31, an established feral Muscovy Duck looked out of place out in the wetlands:



The view to the west over still water, just before sunrise:


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Linking to Misty's  CAMERA CRITTERS,

Linking to Eileen's SATURDAY'S CRITTERS,

Linking to SKYWATCH FRIDAY by Yogi, Sylvia and Sandy

Linking to WEEKEND REFLECTIONS by James

Linking to BirdD'Pot by Anni

Linking to Our World Tuesday by Lady Fi

Linking to Wild Bird Wednesday by Stewart

Linking to Wordless Wednesday (on Tuesday) by NC Sue

Linking to ALL SEASONS by Jesh

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Please visit the links to all these memes to see some excellent photos on display

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