Welcome back, Wood Ducks!
March 22nd, 2010
One mated pair, Rideau River by the tennis club.
Now it's time to break out the camera again.
Lots of Mallards and Canada Geese at Riverain Park today--and two men feeding them what looked like hunks of sesame bagel. There were geese in the mix who were noticeably smaller and slimmer than the rest. I don't know that they were quite small enough to be Cackling Geese. In fact after years of birding, I still haven't added that species to my list. I've seen a lot of smallish Canada Geese, but I could never be sure. Canada Geese come in many sizes and only the smallest of them has (recently) been classified as a separate species.
Anyway, what was interesting about this was the sheer aggression of the small geese. The big ones--the type you usually see in parks around here--seemed to understand how this worked: everyone would get their share, there was no need to push and shove. The small geese were trying to chase everyone else away and get all the bagel to themselves. And the big geese let themselves be bullied!
South of Hurdman Station and north of Riverside Hospital, the Rideau goes through a wooded area. It's not usually productive for more than very common species. But in late March and early April, it's a spring migration gold mine. It floods. Often it floods so much that the flood engulfs the bike path, and you need waterproof boots to get through. Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers and Ring-Necked Ducks are attracted to it, as are thrushes and kinglets: the ducks swim amidst the flooded vegetation searching for food, while the songbirds hop around on bushes and logs above the water, picking out insects. In spring 2008 I twice saw a Fox Sparrow there. I've never found that species at any other time or place.
This spring, though, I fear my gold mine will run dry. Literally. There's no flood. There was not enough melting snow, not nearly enough, to create a flood. And throughout Ottawa the story is similar, fields and waterways that flood and attract water-loving migrants will not do so this year. That's the price we pay for our mild winter and early spring.
I almost hope for one more big snowfall to come and fix us up.....almost.
March 22nd, 2010
One mated pair, Rideau River by the tennis club.
Now it's time to break out the camera again.
Lots of Mallards and Canada Geese at Riverain Park today--and two men feeding them what looked like hunks of sesame bagel. There were geese in the mix who were noticeably smaller and slimmer than the rest. I don't know that they were quite small enough to be Cackling Geese. In fact after years of birding, I still haven't added that species to my list. I've seen a lot of smallish Canada Geese, but I could never be sure. Canada Geese come in many sizes and only the smallest of them has (recently) been classified as a separate species.
Anyway, what was interesting about this was the sheer aggression of the small geese. The big ones--the type you usually see in parks around here--seemed to understand how this worked: everyone would get their share, there was no need to push and shove. The small geese were trying to chase everyone else away and get all the bagel to themselves. And the big geese let themselves be bullied!
South of Hurdman Station and north of Riverside Hospital, the Rideau goes through a wooded area. It's not usually productive for more than very common species. But in late March and early April, it's a spring migration gold mine. It floods. Often it floods so much that the flood engulfs the bike path, and you need waterproof boots to get through. Wood Ducks, Hooded Mergansers and Ring-Necked Ducks are attracted to it, as are thrushes and kinglets: the ducks swim amidst the flooded vegetation searching for food, while the songbirds hop around on bushes and logs above the water, picking out insects. In spring 2008 I twice saw a Fox Sparrow there. I've never found that species at any other time or place.
This spring, though, I fear my gold mine will run dry. Literally. There's no flood. There was not enough melting snow, not nearly enough, to create a flood. And throughout Ottawa the story is similar, fields and waterways that flood and attract water-loving migrants will not do so this year. That's the price we pay for our mild winter and early spring.
I almost hope for one more big snowfall to come and fix us up.....almost.
| ← | → |