Oh Those Ruddies!

The blue billed boys are back!  In fact, these 'clowns' have been back for awhile but pull out a camera and they are rather shy (sorry, these aren't the best photos)!  Meet our Ruddy Ducks (Oxyura jamaicensis).  The Ruddy Duck is the ONLY member of the stiff-tailed duck bunch found in Alberta and I love 'em!  Not only colourful but they are also entertaining to watch!  The ladies, despite being much smaller than a mallard, will commonly lay up to 15 eggs and apparently the ladies in our sloughs were successful 'Moms!'

The first 'Mama' has a clutch of 10 swimming behind and in the final pic ... a different slough and a different 'Mama,' there are 11 ducklings!  I guess you could say these ladies have their 'ducks all lined up in a row!'