New Year, Old Birds

I dusted off the binoculars and spotting scope this morning and headed out for a few hours of birding before work. There have been reports of some not-so-common ducks around, so that was what I was concentrating on.

Trip total over about 3 hours: 39 species. Not great, but not working very hard.

It was a good day to be out, actually. Overcast and fairly mild in the 30s. I started close to home and headed into town from there. There is a lot of ice on the ponds, but those that have some open water are good for waterfowl. The birds get concentrated in small areas and are easy to view.

I started here at flooded cranberry bogs in Hatchville. Nothing unusual here, but it's always worth checking and the water usually stays open with the rivers flowing through the bogs.

The only really annoying aspect of this area is that residents walk their dogs here and apparently never, ever clean up after them. You have to spend so much time watching where you are walking to avoid the masses of crap that is left behind. It amazes me how inconsiderate people really are. We do have a bylaw requiring people to pick up after their animals, but like most bylaws it is unenforced. In fact I avoid walking in one of our largest conservation areas because of this. People just leave the dogs to run loose (we also have a 'restraint' bylaw that is unenforced) leaving behind loads of crap, annoying wildlife, attacking properly leashed dogs and jumping up on unsuspecting walkers trying to enjoy the day.

Moving on....

Here is a good example of nearly iced over Siders Pond behind Falmouth Town Hall. A few Canada geese on the ice and a small assortment of ducks in the water.

One of the more productive spots today was here at Great Pond in Falmouth. It's a perfect example of how open water can concentrate ducks. There were a good number of species here including rather uncommon birds such as Eurasian Wigeon and Redhead.

I am often asked what my favorite bird is. My usual answer is that I don't have one, but hooded merganser is pretty close to the top of the list, if there was a list. In the photo above, there are two male hooded mergansers. I did what I could with the photography today, but it is difficult and often frustrating to have almost the right equipment, but not quite. After all this time and given my enjoyment of birding and aspects of natural history, I really should have proper photography equipment. Maybe someday.

For a look at some really great images by a local photographer who was also featured in our local paper today, go here to Craig Gibson's page.

Distant view of Martha's Vineyard from Surf Drive.