This time of year, we see lots of migratory birds making stopovers at Lake Sawyer on their way south to warmer climes. With more arctic cold this winter, there seem to be more transients moving through over a longer period. Following are a few of the ducks we saw on a walk through the park last weekend as the ice began to thaw.
This male Bufflehead shows his pretty colors that we seldom see. Unless his head feathers catch direct sun, his head looks black. Their black/white contrast also makes photographing them difficult but I managed to capture some color with this one. We saw a whole Bufflehead convention at Frog Lake - likely celebrating open water as the ice thawed.
This male Common Golden-eye is one of the prettier ducks we see. They are divers (fish eaters?) and we see them both in the park and near our dock. Under bright sun, their head is dark green like male Mallards. Females have a white spot on their face much like the male.
Mr. & Mrs. Ring-neck duck were out for a paddle in the Rock Creek outlet into the lake. They too are divers and seem to stay at Lake Sawyer much of the winter. Plenty of Cormorants this year too. Perhaps good news - we are also seeing a lot of eagle activity around the lake, which seems to be earlier in the new year than normal. Let's hope we get to see young eaglets hatching again this year.
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