Orange ducks at Hecla Pond, Louisville, Boulder County

[Ted Floyd]

Hey, folks. In the go-figure category, many of the ducks at Hecla Pond, Boulder County, have suddenly turned orange. Here are a few photos of mine from the pond (top-bottom, male bufflehead, male ring-necked duck, female ring-necked duck, male lesser scaup, female lesser scaup):

Even the turtles are getting in on the orange action:

Other birds of late, some of them orange, some of them not, at the Hecla/Waneka/Greenlee greater ecosystem include common grackles, wood ducks, killdeers, greater yellowlegses, cinnamon teals, horned grebes, territorial Cooper hawks, nest-building American bushtits, bald eagles, great horned owls, a ruby-crowned kinglet, an Audubon warbler, American white pelicans, plenitudinous hooded mergansers gorging themselves on virile crayfish, and an enchanting Townsend solitaire.

Say, on an astronomical note, we have some amazing stuff going on right now. In the morning sky, the planets Jupiter, Saturn (notably bright), and Mars are still in near-conjunction; it was a bit better a few nights ago, but it's still real good. And on the evening of Apr. 3, Venus passes through the Pleiades! It's all viewable while social distancing and sheltering in place.

Ted Floyd

Lafayette, Boulder County

[Marcia Wade - Lafayette, Boulder County]

It's probably euglena, a unicellular, flagellated organism - an algae - that has both plant and animal characteristics.  The orange bloom of certain species of euglena  is toxic to fish,  I hope this is not the case at Hecla b/c if the fish disappear so will the birds.  I'm going to call the parks people and ask what they know about it.