Waiting for Whistling Ducks

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I walked down to the retention ponds on the CyFair campus to see if Black-bellied Whistling Ducks had started bringing their families down to the water.

On my way I startled a Cottontail.

This year is certainly a bumper one for rabbits. They are all over the campus and I've seen some at almost every other site I've visited since the early spring.

I had no luck finding Whistling Ducks. Still, I'll keep looking because we've had several families of Whistling Ducks on the ponds every summer for the past 4 or 5 years and they're a lot of fun to watch.

My walk wasn't a waste of time, though, as I came across a Green Heron by the edge of the northern pond.

Unfortunately, a jogger appeared just as the Heron was getting ready to fish and so it took flight.

On the way back to my office, I did get to see some Whistling Ducks fly overhead. I wasn't surprised - I see at least a few somewhere on the campus every day in the spring and summer.  However, I was surprised when these birds suddenly and for no apparent reason went from level flight into a nearly vertical climb. 

This is a manouver I've never seen before from Whistling Ducks and it was very odd to watch them flying almost straight upwards for quite a while before they came back onto a level flight path.
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