Cloud Swells

Look down, you see ducks.  Look up, and note the waves in the clouds. From 2/14/12.

Ducks in a Row

On a glassy, mirrored surface.

Ducks, Row

And a few seagulls, too. From Monday, 1/3/11.

Duck!

Click on the picture to enlarge, and you might be able to tell that the black speck in the middle is an adorable duck. Or a duck anyway, if not adorable. Or some kind of water fowl. Just click on it! From Tuesday, 3/30/10.

Ice, Far and Near

Ice off on the horizon.
Ducks in flight above water laced with ice. From Monday.

Hunkering down

And I also drove past the harbor on the way to work, and saw all of these geese (and ducks?) hunkering down, trying to stay warm in the newly forming ice.

Monochrome

In person it looks more gray than blue, but there is very little difference between the sky and the Lake today.

This photo doesn't show it, and my weak camera really can't, but there's also a lot of lovely duck action on the Lake today. They are very busy swimming, diving down, and occasionally flying as a flock, low, skimming the water. The cuteness of the little duck bottoms sticking up in the air cannot be adequately described with words or a still photo. Must learn how to do video....

Duck, Duck, Ice

Ducks were milling about in the water and on the ice for most of the day, sometimes diving into that freezing water and bobbing back up.

But now, they're mostly gone, and we have a light layer of ice with a light layer of snow falling on it.

Of Ducks and Quilts

I missed posting yesterday (splitting headache) but took this photo early this morning to illustrate how completely calm and smooth the lake is. I thought that would be that, but....
Then I noticed this very large flock of ducks congregated on and around a patch of ice. Smaller groups have been here all day, but now they are hanging in one very large flock, some sitting on ice, with feathers fluffed against the cold, and some swimming. And then, most amazing of all...

The ice that has formed on the lake is breaking into neat trapezoid shapes. They aren't quite perfect squares or rectangles, but they are close. It reminds me of the way farm fields look from the air.

If anyone has any insight into why the ice is breaking into such neat pieces, do tell.