identify me...

do you ever get a gift but you don't quite know what it is? it happened to me today... see, it's my birthday today... and god blessed me with a really cool new nature gift - see him above? trouble is... i don't know what it is! do you?

i've seen him lurking around my little lake a couple times before and have wondered. of course, you know me... i have attempted to stalk him to no avail because i'm either too noisy or he gets skittish. not that it would help... i still wouldn't know what he is. at first i thought a duck, but the closer i got i thought, no... but then maybe a variation? he's not the prettiest looking thing - rather dull in color except for the orange bill... but i'm telling you, once he began to preen - it was like he was king of the hill saying "take a look at me..."

anyway if you can assist in giving him an identity for me, that would be super cool and would make my day a

happy day.....

p.s. i still thanked god for my birthday gift even without knowing its name... i enjoyed the rarity of it and felt like it was a special thing just for me... yay!