Friday, October 14, 2011

The UPS Man came!

Good Morning, Utah!  That's what I say every morning when I open the shade and look outside and see this:

Prettier than a  picture.

It was beautiful and warm today, so when Katie and I started out for our early afternoon walk, I decided to go to the Visitor's Center, then keep walking in a direction we haven't been yet.

I talked to a Ranger at the center and explained what happened with the American Coot, and he said that happens often, and whatever it was in his mouth will eventually come out.  He said they often see birds with fishing line coming out of their mouths.  So I felt good about the Coot's prognosis.

We kept walking along, over the lawns in the Day Use Area along a river (or creek ?), and then I heard a loud noise, a dog barking, something like that.  It sounded like something was causing a big flock of ducks to quack and swim up river toward us.  I could see them coming, swimming and quacking frantically.  I wondered what it was that was making that loud noise, and scaring them, or chasing them.


So...  they all come out of the water running toward us.  Then, from behind us coming down the lawn was - Ta Da!  UPS MAN with his arms loaded with four large plastic bags.  Full.  Of.  Bread.


 Yeaaaaa, the UPS Man is here!

The UPS Man said when the ducks hear his truck, they start swimming and running toward shore.  By the time he parks, they are all on the shore waiting.  If he stays in his truck too long, they run over the lawn and wait outside his truck door.  You gotta love it! 

He has been coming to feed the ducks for a long time now.  He said the loud barking sound was one of the females, either one of the ducks or the female swan.  He knew quite a bit about these birds.

He said the female goose mothers the goslings of  the Canada Geese that fly in annually to have their babies.  She will mother them, guard them, and keep predators away.  Then the Canada Geese fly away, and she and her mate stay here.

These geese are beautiful. I've only seen white geese before.

The grey and white duck in the front, below, was left here by someone, and when the UPS Man first saw him, he could hardly walk, he has a bad leg.  He can't fly, but can make it to the water if he needs to by using his wings.  He doesn't waddle like the other ducks, but walks tall and upright.  He immediately stood out when they came barreling onto shore because when they all walked, he was walking differently than the rest.

 This little guy walked like a Penguin.

 
 This cute little white duck has a tuft of feathers on it's head.


This was  a pretty duck, I liked it's colors.


After their treats, they went back to their day:


The bird shots aren't very colorful because I had the camera on the black and white setting, highlighting a yellow-green color for a previous shot of a flower.  Unfortunately, the ducks look colorless except their beaks, and also the green grass was picked up.  Usually I check my settings, but this time I was caught off guard when all the excitement started.  :(

And finally, this boat caught my attention and I wanted to get a picture of it..  You can see it from the RV Park.

Dry Dock

From Me and My Dog, have a great Friday, everyone!  :)

14 comments:

  1. Loved your post today, and I'm so glad the outlook for the coot is good.

    I'm having so much trouble with blogger today; one of the problems is that I can't see a one of your pictures. I can't understand it - I usually see about half of them.

    Where does the UPS man get all the bread? How sweet of him - I hope it's good for the birds to eat.

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  2. What an uplifting post today! I think that is an awesome UPS man!! It is so nice to hear about folks slowing down and enjoying and appreciating nature....even when they are working. Good for him!!

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  3. What a fun post. Hopefully that poor guy get some of the bread donated. He's feeding a big family there.

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  4. What a great post. And what a wonderful day had by all including the ducks.

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  5. Oh, good news for the Coot! You did a good thing. I guess that UPS man donates his lunch hour to the ducks? That's pretty cool that he does that. Loved the photos of them all running onto the land for their bready treats! We used to take bread to the muscovy ducks here at the bayou. We had a lot of geese too that loved the bread.
    At first I thought you ordered something cool & had it delivered there. But it was an even better present! :-)

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  6. Nice post. I always like visiting with the resident ducks and geese.

    Too bad about your camera settings. I think we have all had a similar experience at one time or another. But you got the color back for that colorful shot of the boat!

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  7. how wonderful that the UPS delivery guy takes some time out of his day to feed the ducks..hey, I wonder if one of those Canada geese are residents at our local lake?..you never know??

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  8. I enjoyed the post today. I always love good animal stories. Yay for the UPS man!

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  9. Yay for the coot! Yay for the Boys in Brown! Great story.

    It makes me think of Mitch Hedberg's routine ... Ducks eat for free at Subway.

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  10. Thank you for visiting me! and I love your blog! I'm an animal lover and whatta guy the UPS guy is ...

    great pictures... I could watch geese and ducks all day. I've had 'em put their neck down and try to intimidate me. I say ... now, listen goose... no way are you going to scare me and I stand my ground.

    A passerby told me that she had gotten really bruised by that goose and showed me her leg! rascal goose! she said she comes out to this lake everyday and walks and has never been 'attacked' before.... hah! a rabid goose? pooey I'm still not going to be afraid of a goose... I always think of Miss Prissy -- I know she's a hen but she looks goosey

    I see familiar names here ;)

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  11. I know the UPS man means well, but bread is not good for ducks:

    http://duckrescuenetwork.org/duck_care.html

    THEIR HEALTH
    "When wild ducks are fed human food (especially bread or crackers) their organs become engorged and fatty, which can cause them to suffer from heart disease, liver problems and other health complications. Bread also has very few nutrients, and can get compacted in a bird's crop. Many rehabilitators see "bread-impacted crop" in sick and distressed park ducks."

    Especially if they are fed white bread, which has no nutrients, as the goodness has all been stripped out of the bleached flour.
    Just as people shouldn't eat white bread for the same reasons.

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  12. Wonderful post, thanks for sharing. The UPS man deserves an a home-made apple pie or something for being so kind to those ducks!

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  13. The upright duck is called an Indian Runner. They stand straight up and can move faster than the regular ducks. This one must have had an injury. They come in all kinds of colors and, generally, stay leaner than other breeds of ducks. I stayed on a poultry farm that had Runners along with numerous other breeds of geese, turkey's and chickens.

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