Today at the Shirley's Bay feeders, a sight I've eagerly awaited: a flock of
redpolls!.
It's a sight I hadn't enjoyed since February of 2009, since they didn't come
south last winter. With them, some American
Tree Sparrows, some goldfinches, other common birds, a female Pileated
Woodpecker, and a great teeming gaggle of nature photographers. Passing
overhead, large flocks of Bohemian
Waxwings--wish fulfillment number two.
Sometime in the next few days I'm going back there with the camera and join
the gaggle. Of course, with any luck, the redpolls will soon find their way to
my own little nyjer feeder at Hurdman so I don't have to go across town to
photograph them.
Yesterday at the Hurdman feeders was the most frenetic I've seen...there or
anywhere. Teeming masses of goldfinches, house finches and chickadees,
whizzing back and forth, fighting over perches. Every perch on the nyjer
feeder occupied. Woodpeckers and nuthatches stuffing themselves on suet. I
filled the platform feeder almost to the brim in the morning; by afternoon,
they'd emptied it. I guess they knew the weather was only going to get worse.
This raven came along while I was watching diving ducks on Wednesday. He was
heralded in the usual way: by the sound of angry crows!
I bet you look at that picture and imagine him making a loud "grawk!", right?
Nope. The sound he actually made (repeatedly) was a delicate, hollow little
*pop*--like the sound of water droplets. Each time opening his beak wide and
fluffing out his throat feathers dramatically, all to deliver this tiny sound
effect. Gotta love ravens.
Maybe *pop* was code for, "anybody want to share this?"
The Hooded
Merganser is an odd-looking duck at the best of times. So when a wind
ruffled this guy's crest feathers, he looked beyond odd--like something had
come and taken a bite out of him!
Here he is looking a little more dignified:
"Hoodies" are common spring and fall migrants in Ottawa. They don't usually
winter here. Right now you can find them just south of Riverain Park, often
swimming right along shore (but you have to peek through the reeds to see
them.) Oddly, Hooded Mergansers are known to hybridize, in the wild, with bothspecies of
goldeneye. That's not merely a cross-species hybrid, but cross-genus!
It was a great morning for diving ducks on the Rideau today.
For starters, the Goldeneyes are back! Not that this is new news--it's
weeks-old news, in fact. But I finally got out there on a sunny morning to
take pictures of them.
Most of you have heard me wax eloquent about goldeneyes before, but for the
one or two newcomers: Common Goldeneyes are hardy diving ducks who regularly
spend the winter in Ottawa, breeding north of us in the boreal forest. They
winter on the limited stretches of the Rideau and Ottawa Rivers, usually near
rapids, that remain unfrozen year-round. The mature males are black and white
with a green gloss to their heads and a white cheek spot; the females are grey
and brown.
Like other diving ducks, they submerge entirely underwater in search of food:
members of a foraging goldeneye group will disappear and reappear every ten
seconds or so, making them an exercise in patience for the bird-watcher! They
forage actively even at temperatures of 30 below. They have an incredible
tolerance for cold and for rough waters. They are my favorite ducks. I love
their beauty and I love their strength.
There's even a bit of courtship going on--that's what the male second from the
left is up to with the neck-craning. This will continue, probably, until
winter really sets in, then they'll resume the festivities in March.
A total of three male Barrow's Goldeneyes have been seen mingling with the
Commons. This once-rare species is becoming a more and more regular sight in
Ottawa in winter, though they still only come in very small numbers--it's just
that they come to predictable spots where birders know to find them. Above is
a good comparison of a male Barrow's (front) and Common: you can see the
different shape of the cheek spot, and the way the Barrow's' head is glossed
with indigo instead of green. (If they weren't well-sunlit, both heads would
look black.)
This one's a bit of a mystery. Ordinarily I'd peg it as a juvenile male
Common--but if so why the all-yellow bill?
Found this female Common Merganser at
Riverain Park on Thursday. Her head, bill, and above all feet were startling
bits of color on an otherwise gray morning.