As usual, painted turtles were sunning themselves on logs sticking out of the water on the shoreline. They are known for the yellow and red stripes on their head and limbs, according to the SUNY College of Environmental Science and Forestry.

“The carapace is smooth and dark with yellow and red borders,” ESF states on its webpage about common turtles of New York state. “The plastron is bright yellow, with or without dark blotches, depending on the sub-species. It is commonly seen basking on warm summer days, usually on partly-submerged logs or rocks. Its diet consists primarily of animal material, but it will eat algae and plants.”

Learn more about the state’s turtles at tinyurl.com/2357sjfw.

The Marbones also saw a young common loon on the water. It had gray plumage, not the black-and-white feathers of an adult. When chicks hatch, according to the Adirondack Center for Loon Conservation in Saranac Lake, they have black plumage that eventually molts into a lighter brown after three weeks.

An adolescent common loon hunts at the Kushaqua Narrows on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“During this time, they are vulnerable to the elements and depend on their parents for warmth and protection from predators and the cold lake water,” the Loon Center states on its website. “At nine weeks old, they molt once more into a gray juvenile plumage. During this second molt, they grow flight feathers and their thicker plumage keeps them warm and dry in the cold Adirondack lakes. At this time, they become more independent and begin to learn how to hunt and fly. The juvenile loons will keep this gray plumage until they reach maturity.”

Learn more about common loons at adkloon.org.

And finally, the Marbones saw two mallard ducks on a log. Known as puddle ducks, they are the most common year-round duck in New York, according to the state Department of Environmental Conservation. The drake, or male, has a metallic green head with a white neck ring, and the hen, or female, is a mottled brown color.

“The wings of both the drake and the hen have a violet metallic speculum bordered by two white bars,” states a publication titled “Identifying New York State Waterfowl.”

Naturalist and Adirondack guide Ed Kanze, of Bloomingdale, helped identify these ducks. Since neither had a metallic green head, the question was, “Are they both female mallards or black ducks?”

A painted turtle suns itself on the limb of a fallen birch tree on shore at the Kushaqua Narrows on Thursday. (Enterprise photo — Aaron Marbone)

“Yes, I’d call those female mallards,” Kanze wrote in an email. “The orange feet make them mallards according to Roger Tory Peterson, and the overall coloration seems too pale for black duck. They also have a bold white border on each side of the blue patch (called a speculum) on each wing. The black duck has the blue speculum, but the white border is subtle or nonexistent.”

Learn more about New York’s waterfowl at tinyurl.com/43wxzr7d.