Today my family and I visited Watauga Lake, a TVA reservoir which has recently experienced record-high water levels. We stopped at the Watauga Point Recreation Area (our favorite), and I ended up swimming. After a while, however, I noticed that I wasn't alone on the water.

Canada Goose

The Canada Goose is a handsome species of waterfowl, one that has become extremely common across most the United States in recent years following a dramatic rise in the number of non-migratory populations. They can be found anywhere from lakes and ponds to golf courses, where they feed by clipping and eating grasses. Despite being regarded as a pest by many, I myself enjoy encountering them. Today we saw 6 adults accompanied by 14 goslings, for a total of 20 individuals.

The next two images show some of the adult geese with the young. The second highlights the aforementioned method of feeding.

Adult geese and goslings

Geese, feeding

While these geese are primarily herbivores, they must also consume sources of protein (such as insects) in order to obtain nutrients essential to the production of feathers.

Mallard, male

In addition to geese, we also saw three Mallards: two males and a female. Mallards differ from the Canada Goose in that only one sex -- the male -- is colorful. The female, by comparison, has a drab brown coloration with mottling to camouflage her while she incubates her clutch of eggs.

Mallard, female

Mallard, both sexes w/ female feeding

Mallards belong to a group of ducks known as "dabbling ducks" because of the way in which they feed: by foraging for food at the bottom of shallow water. What I captured isn't quite as dramatic as the usual behavior, where individuals submerge the anterior half of their body to the point that their posterior is left sticking straight up out of the water.

The road that loops around the recreation area

Today's closing picture shows just how high the water was at the lake, and how much it has receded since the new record was determined (as evidenced by the debris on the road, which represents the previous high water mark).