Category Archives: Ducks

For the Birds: Northern shoveler highlights trip

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Photo by Chris Bosak A northern shoveler seen at 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk, Conn., fall 2018.

Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several New England newspapers …

Each month brings its own gifts for birdwatchers.

November brings ducks in large numbers to our ponds, lakes and rivers. If December is kind, weather-wise, that continues. If December is cold and frosty, which it often is, those bodies of freshwater freeze and the ducks head farther south.

This year, November has been colder than usual; many of these waters are frozen already, threatening to spoil the “winter duck” fun early. A quick thaw can bring the ducks back, but an extended freeze will push the ducks away until early next spring.

When the inland waters freeze, New England birdwatchers still have the Atlantic Ocean and Long Island Sound to get their duck fix. But even that falls short in some regards. While there are some duck species that may be found in fresh or saltwater, most are an either-or proposition.

When the freeze takes over, New England can pretty much say goodbye to species such as wood duck, common merganser, ring-necked duck, green-winged teal and gadwall. Other freshwater specialty species — such as pintail and shoveler — are also south-bounfd following a deep freeze.

I was lucky to spot one of these specialty species the other day while checking out an old haunt of mine in southwestern Connecticut. I scanned 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk and noticed a good number of gadwall, a few ring-necked ducks, a pair of mute swans, and many mallards, domesticated ducks and Canada geese. The domesticated ducks were a surprise. I had never noticed them before when I used to frequent the pond.

One duck stood out among the rest, however. The large white patches that sandwich its otherwise rusty side stood out like a beacon. Even though Continue reading →

Northern shoveler video

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Here’s a quick video I put together on the northern shoveler drake that I featured in a few posts last week. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel, which I hope to populate with more videos in the coming months. It already has several older videos I posted over the years.

To subscribe to my YouTube channel, click on the link below:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTcik_d7xcke8x6_sjusirw?sub_confirmation=1

Oh, here’s that shoveler video …

A few more northern shoveler photos

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Photo by Chris Bosak A northern shoveler seen at 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk, Conn., fall 2018.

You didn’t think I’d post only one full photo of a northern shoveler, did you? Here are a few more. I tried digiscoping for one of the first times, so the quality of the photos are not great. I’ll keep practicing that skill.

Great-looking bird, regardless. Here’s more info on the northern shoveler, from AllAboutBirds.org

Photo by Chris Bosak A northern shoveler seen at 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk, Conn., fall 2018.
Photo by Chris Bosak A northern shoveler seen at 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk, Conn., fall 2018.

For the Birds: Wood ducks in the trees — another first

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Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several New England newspapers.

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Photo by Chris Bosak Male wood duck.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Male wood duck.

No matter how long you’ve been at it, birdwatching always presents new firsts.

This latest first happened to take place right in my backyard. I’ve watched videos and seen photographs of wood ducks perched in trees before, but I’ve never witnessed it myself. I’ve seen plenty of wood ducks on the water and even under people’s birdfeeders, but never perched high in trees before.

I came close once. I was canoeing within the Bashakill Wildlife Management Area in New York years ago and dozens, maybe even hundreds, of wood ducks could be seen and heard in the distance. I focused my binoculars on a dead tree about 100 yards away and saw a huge gathering of these handsome ducks. Most of them were in the water, but a few of them perched on the snag’s low-hanging branches.

Photo by Chris Bosak A Wood Duck mother swims with one of her babies at Woods Ponds in Norwalk, Conn., spring 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Wood Duck mother swims with one of her babies at Woods Ponds in Norwalk, Conn., spring 2016.

I don’t count this as having seen them perched in trees because the dead, leafless tree was more an extension of the water than anything.

The other day, though, I walked out of the sunroom and onto the deck to fill the feeders. As the door closed behind me I heard the unmistakable “oo-eek, oo-eek” call of a wood duck coming from a tall oak in the backyard.

Then I noticed two ducks flush from the tree and head into the woods. It was a male and female and they made a big circle weaving through the trees and came back to the large oak. A very cool first, especially since it took place in the backyard.

Despite the proliferation of wood duck boxes on the edges of ponds, many wood Continue reading →

Protect habitat: CT Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp available

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2017 Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp, featuring canvasbacks on the Thames River and painted by Mark Thone.

2017 Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp, featuring canvasbacks on the Thames River and painted by Mark Thone.

Here’s a press release from Connecticut DEEP:

The Connecticut Department of Energy and Environmental Protection (DEEP) announced today that Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation (Duck) Stamps can now be bought through the Online Sportsmen Licensing System (www.ct.gov/deep/SportsmenLicensing) by individuals interested in supporting the conservation and purchase of wetland habitats in Connecticut. Migratory bird hunters are required to purchase a Connecticut stamp to participate in migratory bird hunting seasons. However, other licensed hunters (who participate in other hunting seasons), licensed anglers, and Connecticut residents are encouraged to purchase a Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp to provide much needed funding to conserve wetland habitat, thus benefitting a myriad of native fish and wildlife.

“The Connecticut Migratory Bird Conservation Stamp Program is a great example of how conservation works – concerned citizens paying into a program that Continue reading →

For the Birds: In the world of mallards

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Here is the latest For the Birds column, which runs in several New England newspapers.

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Mallards sit on a branch overhanging a pond in New England.

Mallards sit on a branch overhanging a pond in New England. Photo by Chris Bosak

 

For just a moment, I was in their world.

As I stood there I could see nothing but branches, sticks and stubborn brown leaves that refused to fall off the low trees. Then I crouched like a baseball catcher and there they were: a flock of mallards taking a mid-day break in the tangled trees growing out of a small pond.

Normally mallards would not make for a memorable birdwatching outing, but this time was different.

A fairly busy road was no more than 50 yards away, and my car was about 50 feet away, but I felt as if I was visiting the ducks’ world. The area was thickly wooded and a dark canopy of towering branches hung over the pond’s edge, adding to the feeling of seclusion. It was as if the world was reduced to the woods, the mallards and me.

It was a neat sensation, one that I’ve experience only a handful of times before — usually in extreme northern New Hampshire.

It was the way the mallards acted. They didn’t flee when my feet crunched the crispy leaves as I approached. They didn’t plop into the water and swim away slowly when I crouched for my view. They stirred only slightly as I settled in for a closer look and found a more comfortable position. (The catcher’s stance lasts only so long these days for me.) Most importantly, the mallards didn’t approach me looking for a handout. That definitely would have ruined it.

I watched as the mallards simply went about their day. The average person would have been bored silly in about 30 seconds, but I was fascinated.

A drake had the best seat in the house, hogging a gnarled tree all to himself. Just off to the right was a leaning tree with half a dozen mallards sitting next to each other. Four of them were sleeping, heads turned around with their bills nestled into their backs — eyes closed. The two wakeful mallards paid no attention to me. At least eight other mallards occupied trees or branches in the same area.

Looking back, it would have been even more memorable had the birds been wood ducks or hooded mergansers — both of which were also at the pond that day — but I can’t complain about the mallards. Besides wood ducks or mergansers would have been long gone at the first snap of a twig.

Another drake swam onto the scene. It bypassed the crowded leaning tree and tried to join the male that was sitting alone. Big mistake. The duck leaned forward, hissed and snapped at the newcomer, shooing him away. It found a place nearby to roost.

A minute or two later, one of the hens left the crowded tree, took a few graceful paddles through the shallow water and climbed aboard the gnarled tree with the ornery male. The male shifted slightly, but let the hen stay. After about three minutes, the drake’s charitable mood changed and he nipped at the female, sending her away.

The mallards’ mid-afternoon break outlasted mine. I was already late for work and, knowing that, the feeling of being in a different world faded away.

It was back to the real world. But I had the dirty pants and muddy shoes to prove that I had been elsewhere.

A few hoodies to end the year

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Hooded Merganser swims in a pond in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Hooded Merganser swims in a pond in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Here’s a nice male Hooded Merganser I spotted at a pond in Danbury, Conn., on the second-to-last day of 2016. Goodbye 2016. Let’s see what 2017 brings us.

Happy New Year and thanks for supporting http://www.BirdsofNewEngland.com in 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak A Hooded Merganser swims in a pond in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Hooded Merganser swims in a pond in Danbury, Conn., Dec. 2016.

What do Pied-billed Grebes eat?

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Photo by Chris Bosak A Pied-billed Grebe catches a fish in a pond in Danbury, Conn., November 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A Pied-billed Grebe catches a fish in a pond in Danbury, Conn., November 2016.

Pied-billed Grebes eat a variety of aquatic foods, such as crustaceans, insects and amphibians. Oh, they also eat fish, as you can see from this photo I got last week at a small pond in Danbury, Conn.

Now the next question … why is it called a Pied-billed Grebe?

The word “pied” means having two more colors. This grebe’s bill is silver/gray and black in the summer.

 

Latest For the Birds column: Ducks are finally here

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Photo by Chris Bosak Hooded Mergansers swim in a small unfrozen section of water at Selleck's/Dunlap in Darien, Conn., in Feb. 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Hooded Mergansers swim in a small unfrozen section of water at Selleck’s/Dunlap in Darien, Conn., in Feb. 2014.

Here’s the latest For the Birds column, which runs weekly in The Hour (Norwalk, Conn.), The Keene (NH) Sentinel and several Connecticut weekly newspapers.

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For me, “duck season” starts with the first sighting of something other than a mallard, wood duck or black duck.

This year it started in late August when I saw a lone hooded merganser in the small pond at the end of the trail that runs through my backyard. I’m not sure if it was an early migrating duck or if its territory is nearby, but it certainly marked an early start to duck watching season for me.

Of course, several weeks passed before my next duck sighting, but now it appears that duck season is finally here for real. The weather certainly is fitting for duck season. The other day, I stood on the shores of a lake watching a flock of common mergansers. The temperature was in the low 30s and a whipping, cold wind stung my ears. In other words, things could have been worse.

The “typical” start to duck-watching season goes something like this: The leaves change colors and a few hooded mergansers and ring-necked ducks show up on area lakes and ponds. Large flocks of common mergansers congregate on larger lakes and reservoirs.

As the season progresses, small ponds attract goodies such as green-winged teal, gadwall and American wigeon. Larger lakes attract more and more common mergansers as well as bufflehead and a goldeneye or two.

Long Island Sound and the Atlantic Ocean follow a somewhat predictable schedule as well, with brant showing up rather early, followed by beauties such as common and red-throated loons, grebes, goldeneye, long-tailed ducks, red-breasted mergansers and scaup. Eider are common on the ocean, but not so much on the Sound.

Continue reading →

One more Wood Duck photo (I promise)

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Photo by Chris Bosak A female Wood Duck swims at Wood's Pond in Norwalk, spring 2016.

Photo by Chris Bosak
A female Wood Duck swims at Wood’s Pond in Norwalk, spring 2016.

I’ve already done two posts about the Wood Ducks I saw the other day. Here’s one more of a female Wood Duck. They are beautiful in their own right, even if the male Wood Ducks grab all the attention with their fancy plumage.