Tag Archives: Scaup

For the Birds: It’s a good time to look for ducks

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Photo by Chris Bosak Scaup may be seen in huge numbers on large bodies of water in New England in the winter.

Late February and early March is somewhat of a transition period for birdwatching in New England.

The highly anticipated spring migration, which won’t hit its peak until late April and early May, starts with a trickle around mid-March, most notably with American woodcocks and eastern phoebes. Some consider the early male red-winged blackbirds the start of spring migration, but many of these blackbirds overwinter in New England so it’s tough to say if they are arriving in February or have been here all along.

On the other hand, a lot of the winter birds we have enjoyed seeing over the last few months have either gone further south, returned north, or, unfortunately for some, perished in the cold New England winter. Many birds that try to stick out a New England winter, either due to getting lost on their migration route or opting to forego migration altogether, underestimate the power and longevity of our winters and don’t make it to spring.

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Some ducks still hanging on in southern New England

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Photo by Chris Bosak Greater Scaup in Norwalk Harbor, March 2014.

Photo by Chris Bosak
Greater Scaup in Norwalk Harbor, late March 2014.

April, for me anyway, is a bittersweet month for birdwatching. I love watching ducks, so the period from when the “winter ducks” arrive in fall to the time they depart in the spring is perhaps my favorite time of year for birdwatching. Well, that time in spring is approaching. The ducks _ other than mallards and a few others _ will soon depart southern New England for their breeding grounds up north.

The flip side of that, of course, is that the songbirds, shorebirds, birds of prey and other spring migrants will be here soon (if they haven’t arrived already.)

I’ve been seeing fewer and fewer ducks at my normal haunting grounds over the last week or so. Remember my post last week when a Redhead shared a pond with Hooded Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and Wood Ducks? Well, that pond is now vacant. No winter ducks or any other ducks for that matter. I’m sure the mallards and hopefully some Wood Ducks will return. But the other ducks will likely not be seen there for another seven or eight months.

Long Island Sound and its harbors are slowing down, too, but not shutting down. I saw a few Long-tailed Ducks, Bufflehead, Red-breasted Mergansers and Greater Scaup on a recent visit to Norwalk Harbor _ but not in the numbers that I saw them just a few weeks ago. In a few more weeks, only a few straglers will be left _ until next fall, that is.