Yesterday, while photographing birds at Green Lake, I observed a communal feeding behavior of Northern Shovelers that I had never before seen. The males and females gathered in two to three tight circles, each containing 50-100 individuals, with everyone moving in the same direction. They fed in this manner for the entire time I watched?about a half an hour (right next to the dock near the community center). Several people came up to me and asked what the ducks were doing; I wasn't sure at the time, but I investigated, and wrote a blog entry about it. Go to http://leerentz.wordpress.com. If your interests extend beyond birds to all of nature, you might enjoy the previous blog, which was about an unusual ice form, called Silk Ice, that is a decomposition product of fungi working on old alder branches on the ground. It's pretty amazing.

Lee Rentz
lee at leerentz.com
Shelton, WA