Friday, March 19, 2010

Spring IS coming...

waterfowl--yesterday's sketchtrip

Migrating waterfowl are providing something new to see almost every time I drive out to the lake--this time, it was a mixed flotilla of black-headed birds, some with lighter bodies.  My photo taken with my little digital wasn't good enough for a positive ID, so we went back out with Joseph's spotting scope.  We've decided there were American coots amongst the blue-billed Lesser Scaups...

Lots of fun to watch them feeding among last year's reeds and stems...NBII
("National Biological Information Infrastructure," I see why they use an acronym!) has an interesting article about Scaup's migration patterns as well as their life history...we'll see them for quite a while, since they may still be migrating northward in mid-May.  They're considered one of the most abundant diving ducks in the US.

I wish I could have seen the coot on land--they've got longish legs and interesting lobed feet, unlike a duck's webbed foot.  Still efficient "paddles" for wading, though...more on coots HERE...

And DON'T you wonder where the expression "you old coot" came from?!?

6 comments:

  1. The watercolor farm background is equally as good as the duck in the foreground. Amazing actually!

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  2. Thank you, Bob! Cooley Lake is a Missouri Department of Conservation wildlife area that used to be part of that family's farm--on one side of the road is the old oxbow lake, on the other is still fields and silos...neat juxtaposition.

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  3. Thank you, Pam, I loved being OUT there...

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  4. I live in the northeast and this is a great time of year( end Jan to mid April) to get a "gander" at all the ducks that winter along the eastern seaboard. They put our year-round mallards and canadian geese to shame! I spent a few years living in a house that faced north on Barnegat Bay, along the Atlantic coast, and it was heaven for duckwatching! My favorites are the mergansers, either the Red-breasted or the absolutely gorgeous little Hooded Mergansers. If you don't know what they look like, try google images. There can't be a prettier duck!

    This is an awesome blog, I have to spend more time here!

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  5. We'll be glad to have you visit! Yep, Mergansers are very cool, indeed...I haven't seen one out there. Sounds like you lived in a wonderful place...

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