It just didn’t come to mind when I was compiling the list. It has a large, inaccessible marshy area behind it and a few very small ponds, if you can call them that, on the sides and in the front. Frigid temperatures, cold rain and even some snow has many of us longing for the more pleasing fall weather of September and October. I saw a common merganser at Danbury Fair mall the other day. One of the most widespread, the Canada goose, is not native, but introduced to the UK from North America. I guess none of my recent waterfowl experiences have captivated me enough to do so. I didn’t want to further stress them during migration so I quickly pulled out and joined the flow of moving cars. Some of these birds have a fairly small New England range (for example, the Spruce Grouse) and other birds are found throughout the region. Long Island Sound off the coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut is an excellent place to find common and red-throated loons in the winter. All three are generally wary in nature. While hunters, through the purchase of stamps and other fees, have contributed mightily to this effort, conserving land is something easily done by anyone. Shelducks are intermediate in some respects between ducks and geese. The recent stretch of beautiful weather aside, November can be a tough month for birdwatchers. It was the first time I had seen a Redhead at this small pond and it shared the water with Ring-necked Ducks, Hooded Mergansers, Wood Ducks, Canada Geese and Mallards. View All Dabbling. Photo by Chris BosakHooded Mergansers swim in a small unfrozen section of water at Selleck’s/Dunlap in Darien, Conn., in Feb. 2014. American Wigeon. I’ve been seeing fewer and fewer ducks at my normal haunting grounds over the last week or so. But the other ducks will likely not be seen there for another seven or eight months. Just a guess. I decided to stick to the woods behind my house for the Great Backyard Bird Count. With the duck season just picking up pace now, there will be plenty to write about in the next several months. Photo by Chris BosakRedhead seen in Darien pond in March 2014. Red-breasted mergansers may be found on large bodies of fresh, brackish or salt water. Our winter ducks will remain with us for only a few more weeks so be sure to check out your local watering holes for these birds before they are gone. The next day there were two males and one female common merganser in the pond. They are divers, meaning they dive underwater for their food as opposed to dabbling, and they have serrated bills to keep the food from slipping away as they surface. I scanned 14-Acre Pond in Norwalk and noticed a good number of gadwall, a few ring-necked ducks, a pair of mute swans, and many mallards, domesticated ducks and Canada geese. When the freeze takes over, New England can pretty much say goodbye to species such as wood duck, common merganser, ring-necked duck, green-winged teal and gadwall. Also, as you can see from the photo, the species is sexually dimorphic: the males and females look different. Red-breasted merganser males have spiky “haircuts,” light red breasts and slightly darker sides. The ducks _ other than mallards and a few others _ will soon depart southern New England for their breeding grounds up north. That setting seemed to me to be a more appropriate spot for common mergansers than the mall-area one. Common mergansers typically favor large freshwater bodies, such as lakes, large ponds or wide rivers. The other types of ducks are dabblers and they simply tip up and stick their heads in the water in their search for food. Did I say nine? All ducks seen in New England are sexually dimorphic with the males often brilliantly colored and females usually more dull in color. Photo by Chris BosakA Hooded Merganser swim in a small unfrozen section of water at Selleck’s/Dunlap in Darien, Conn., in Feb. 2014. The colored wing patches of these birds lack the brilliance of the speculums of puddle ducks. Anything can happen during migration periods. It was a beautiful thing to see and the first of many similar sightings that will occur for the next several months. Soon, It will be mallards and black ducks for southern New England. Bodies of fresh water will attract a different variety than salt water. Ducks are roughly divided into ‘surface feeders’, which rarely dive, and ‘diving ducks’, which dive under for food. Yes, you read that right. At one point or another, I saw the Redhead “cross paths” with each of the other kinds of ducks. Female commons are larger, brighter and have a dark rusty head with a funky haircut. I just love those little ducks and find them infinitely interesting. I look forward to sharing my experiences. Five Hooded Mergansers passed the Redhead at one point with no drama. But let’s stay positive for this column. With the duck season just picking up pace now, there will be plenty to write about in the next several months. Photo by Chris BosakGreater Scaup in Norwalk Harbor, late March 2014. Also, as you can see from the photo, the species is sexually dimorphic: the males and females look different. Follow www.BirdsofNewEngland.com and receive notifications of new posts by email. Here are the latest. I was lucky to spot one of these specialty species the other day while checking out an old haunt of mine in southwestern Connecticut. Feel free to subscribe to my YouTube channel, which I hope to populate with more videos in the coming months. I have written extensively about the recent study that shows bird populations in North America have dropped by 29 percent over the last 50 years. There is still work to be done in that area. Ring-necked Ducks are occasional visitors. Remember my post last week when a Redhead shared a pond with Hooded Mergansers, Ring-necked Ducks and Wood Ducks? It is a highly developed area, so a variety of wildlife does not thrive there. Dabbling Ducks. It resurfaced next to a different goose every time and none of the geese seemed to mind. Not only was my recent sighting on a very small body of water, not even big enough to be considered a pond, but it was also in the shadow of a bustling shopping mall. The divers include species such as the mergansers, bufflehead, goldeneye, and, as mentioned, ring-necked ducks. I got my chickadees, titmice, white-breasted nuthatches, downy woodpeckers, red-bellied woodpeckers and American goldfinches. As you can see from the photo, a more apt name might be Ring-billed Duck, but the scientists who named it likely had a dead specimen in hand and the ring around its neck — which is difficult to see in the field — was more visible. It had been several years since I had seen common mergansers so close. Time sure flies. Of course, the merganser family just scratches the surface of all the ducks we will see passing through New England for the next several months. Several of the latter are found on the sea. I grabbed a few quick photos but the ducks slowly swam away in the opposite direction and did not seem comfortable with the stopped car by the pond. I’m sure the mallards and hopefully some Wood Ducks will return. I received an email last week from Amy, who wrote that she had seen a flock of more than 70 common mergansers on Childs Bog in Harrisville. So far the spring migration has been a merganser bonanza. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Here are a few more. Here’s a quick video I put together on the northern shoveler drake that I featured in a few posts last week. The common is much larger and smoother looking. With one exception, the other ducks and geese basically paid no attention to the Redhead.
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