March 12, 2015 – Boy , am I tired, I was shopping – My Grandson has bright orange shoes – I know why and now I want a pair – With your camera in hand, come walk with me through the woods, across the golf course, through life. — If we are observant we see things to ponder and look long at, and wonder why – just plain enjoy. — and the camera makes us observant — or Are those flying “ducks” pileated woodpeckers, or mallards. Woody Woodpecker was named or drawn from the pileated,(not the Mallard), red top notch. But why red or bright orange feet on the Mallard? It’s all about attracting the ladies. Chicks dig orange. According to DUCKS UNLIMITED — Have you ever heard that you can tell where a mallard is from by the color of its feet? As the story goes, the legs and feet of northern mallards are redder than their southern cohorts because low temperatures in higher latitudes cause more blood to flow to the birds’ extremities. These mallards are also thought to be larger and hardier than mallards raised in southern parts of the species’ range. Old-timers called these big, late-migrating mallards “redlegs.”