14 February 2019 (ducks)

Valentine’s Day

ducks on the river

pairing off

March 22: Merganser

A duck's splashless dive.

Cold consequences

of things we wish we hadn't said.

Posted with Blogsy

October 28: Hooded Mergansers

Driving through Belfast this afternoon after a couple of meetings, I gave myself permission to take the time to stop and watch a group of about ten Hooded Mergansers bobbing in the dark waters of a small, city-owned pond called The Muck.

Pulled over to watch
mergansers gathered on a pond.
Just that.

Hooded Merganser drake. Photo by Ken Billington via Wikimedia Commons

March 7: Pairing off

From my office window I can see a long patch of open water on the Megunticook River. This afternoon two pairs of spiffy common mergansers were hanging out together there, diving and drifting for a few hours. They were in bright breeding plumage and close enough that the males' green heads contrasted strikingly with their white bodies, and their bills were a vivid red-orange visible without binoculars. Pair bonds already formed, they're on their way to lakes and rivers further inland to breed.

The river opens.
Thoughts turned to nesting northward,
ducks gather, pair off.