Little House On The River

We had our first dusting of Snow last night and first thing this morning the ground was frozen. As the temperature rises today everything will warm up, and I must say I am not ready for a hard freeze yet, I have to much work to do.
This is the time of year I start to bring the food to the ducks and geese at the river instead of having them walk up into the backyard. One reason is, the energy they would burn walking up to the yard is better spent producing heat to keep them warm.

Another reason is The Redtail Hawks. The Redtails are looking for that plump easy meal and although the geese and swan are safe, I can't say the same about the ducks This time of year with no cover from the trees, they are a easy meal while traveling the 50' from the river to the backyard, however when they remain in the water their security level goes up.

Last reason is,They really don't like walking on the cold ground. They will often stop and tuck their feet up into their thick down feathers to warm them up. They do not seam to have a problem with the cold water during the Winter. At most times the water is warmer then the air and according to Wikipedia, they have a very complex set of arteries and veins in there feet.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

A rete mirabile (Latin for 'wonderful net'; plural retia mirabilia) is a complex of arteries and veins lying very close to each other, found in some vertebrates. The rete mirabile utilizes counter current blood flow within the net.

In birds with webbed feet, a rete mirabile in the legs and feet transfers heat from the outgoing (hot) blood in the arteries to the incoming (cold) blood in the veins, with the net effect that the internal temperature of the feet is much closer to the ambient temperature, thus reducing heat loss. In this example the rete mirabile functions as a biological heat exchanger.