Black Ducks Wear Dog Masks Too!

The Mississippi River has been flooding a bit in downtown St. Paul, MN.  It's an exciting time for us park rangers at Mississippi National River and Recreation Area.  I've been out taking photos for the park's Facebook Page of the progessing river levels and can't help but get in some spring birding when I'm out and about.  See the tangle of trees on the right behind the rail?  There were a pair of song sparrows lurking in there.

There was no singing on territory but anxious chips from the pair.  I think they were looking for food and I wondered if they had nested in this spot last year when the river was lower.  Now they arrived and were perplexed at the dramatic change in water level.  Normally, the river is about 9 feet and when I digiscoped the above image it was over 18 feet.  Soon the river will recede and the birds can go along with their nesting plans.

There's plenty around for the song sparrows to eat.  I saw this early spring insect near the trees (that white stuff in the back of the photo is unmelted snow--yes, we still have some).  There were bird feeders nearby by too, chock full of millet so the song sparrows should be fine.

Ducks have been enjoying the high water, foraging in the grass right off the river.  Above you can see 2 mallards and an American black duck.  Remember the whole meme of Ducks Wear Dog Masks?

Apparently black ducks have do too, it's not just mallards.  Their dog mask is a bit more subdued.

South Texas Redheads

These are some redheads bathing and splashing against the sunset at Leonabelle Turnbull Birding Center in Port Aransas, TX.  I took this particular photo through my spotting scope.  The redheads were not at the best sun angle, but with the splashing, I thought it was an arty shot.

It was a huge flock of birds.  At first glance I would have guessed 1500, but in the scope, the redheads just kept going.  We estimated that there were close to 4000 redheads were in this raft.  I half wondered if any of these birds had been counted on our aerial waterfowl surveys on the Upper Mississippi River.

Suddenly, the flock of redheads took off.

Something must have spooked them.  There are warning signs about alligators around the boardwalk, so my guess is that an alligator went for a duck.

One of the benefits of being one for 4000 is that you are less likely to be the one nailed by a gator.

Once the flock what in the air, you could really get a sense of the size and agree that yeah, there must be close to 4000 birds there.

I couldn't help but notice other species mixed in with the flock and making mental notes.  In the above photo there are a couple of scaup mixed in--can you pick them out?  I still crack up that even though I was on vacation from my waterfowl surveys, I'm still attracted to ducks in large numbers.

Love Affair With A Green-winged Teal

My non birding New Orleans fun is finished and I'm back in Texas to enjoy some time with friends at the Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival.

I had a brief love affair with a green-winged teal.  I don't normally get the above view of a teal.  Generally, they are fleeing from our plane when we count them.  So to see a green-winged teal chilling in the evening sun was quite the treat.

At first glance, they may appear brown, but their heads rival any mallards with the rich rusty read accented by a swath of iridescent green behind the eye--like eye shadow gone wild.  This is the smallest dabbling duck in North America, so besides the color, they are quite cute.  They will forage for aquatic insects on the water's surface or dip below for vegetation.

This bird went into full on bathing mode while I was digiscoping it.  I think I will let the photos speak for themselves.

After a good bathe, a nice preen is in order.  I love this shot, you can see the green patch from where the teal gets its name.

And then a nap.

What's Happening, Hot Stuff?

Just a reminder that this weekend is the Minnesota deer opener.  All my Minnesota friends birding in the woods--don't forget your blaze orange!

Okay, the duck blog posts are about finished...for awhile.  I'm winding up work this week and next week I'm off to the magical birding land that is South Texas.  If you've never been to the Rio Grande Valley, find a way to go.  The Rio Grande Valley Bird Festival is one of my favorite bird festivals in the country--I love it so much that next week I'm on vacation and I'm going to the festival--not working a booth, not giving a workshop, not leading trips--just hanging with my friends.

Meanwhile, ducks are on in Minnesota.  I got a call from Avian Images asking if I would like to meet up after work for the long-tailed duck on Lake Vadnais.  Some girl talk and ducks--perfect end to a work day.

Here is the long-tailed duck mixed in with a pack of goldenye.  I was not prepared for how close or how cool this duck looked.  When I've seen the long-tailed duck show up in Minnesota before, it wasn't such a snazzy specimen as seen here or here.

This was an adult male in winter plumage, which I think looks better than his breeding plumage.  There were still a ton of ring-necked ducks on Vadnais, but it was easy to figure out where the long-tailed was being observed--you just followed the pack of birders with large lenses and scopes.

One of the gentlemen with what looked like a 600mm lens asked us what the light colored duck was. I was surprised that A. no one else in the group told him and B. someone with a huge lens like that was taking photos of birds and didn't know the species.  He said he had a guide and couldn't find it.  I told him that it was a long-tailed duck and depending on the age and type of guide, it may be listed by the politically incorrect name of oldsquaw.  Personally, I always call it Long Duck Dong (bong) in my head.  But that maybe because I was raised on too many 80's movies.