Today we visited Ladd Marsh to learn about birds. We saw Mallard Ducks, Ruddy Ducks, Red-Tail Hawks, Sand Hill Cranes, Quail and a Western Grebe. We learned that there are more birds in the Marsh during the spring & summer than during the fall because most birds have migrated to their southern habitats. We also learned that Ruddy Ducks can't swim but can dive under the water to get away from us. Our favorite parts of the field trip were looking at ducks, looking through the binoculars, going for a walk through the marsh, seeing the Red-Tail Hawk, watching the female duck swim, seeing ducks close to shore, seeing all the animals out the bus window, finding all the mouse holes and eating lunch with our friends.
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The Marsh habitat has plenty of water, grass for the animals to hide and sleep in and trees for birds to build nests in.
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| This is a female Ruddy Duck. She belongs to the "stiff tail" duck family. When a male Ruddy Duck tries to attract a partner it bobs its head up and down and blows bubbles under water. The female ducks can't resist this! |
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| We used binoculars to see the birds up close! |
