Sunday, March 15, 2009

Ring Necked Duck-Another Lifer for me

I have a feeling I will be picking up a quite a few lifers over the next few months considering I am so new to birding. I went to a pond in Millbury right before the transfer station just to see what was there. I normally don't go to this pond much because I don't know it that well and tend to stick to the places I am familiar with which is something I am trying not to do now that the weather is getting warmer.

I saw these ducks while walking on the trail that follows the pond. At first I thought they were Scaups until I came home and looked at my Peterson Field Guide. If you look at the first picture you can see the ring around its neck if you enlarge the picture.


Here is one with his gal. Very pretty ducks but skittish! All waterfowl are going to be my nemesis birds this year because they are so difficult to photograph First, you can't get close to them because they are in the water. Second, they fly off right the minute you make eye contact with them. Third the glare of the sun in the water makes all of the photos too bright.

According to Peterson the Ring Necked Ducks don't make it a habit of living in Massachusetts and are just passing through to go further north. I am hoping they are still there next weekend when I go back.

Last some Canada Geese. These two were very well mannered today which is a lot different than winter when they were very hungry and obnoxious. I am telling you I feared for my safety whenever I saw these geese in the winter. They would all run after me thinking I was there to feed them bread!!! I do indeed have bread in my car at all times in case I need it for bait and always wound up giving them some, but it was always a game of Russian Roulette with these birds. Today they were enjoying the sunshine and eating natural food.

P.S. The Pileated WP was at the cemetery all day today. I didn't see his mate though. I am wondering if they have already built a nest somewhere and that is where she is??


16 comments:

Anonymous said...

That's one of the problems of feeding something as large as a Canada goose..Then they expect it. @:0

RuthieJ said...

Those are some mighty handsome ducks.

Anonymous said...

Really fun pictures today. Scary tale about the hungry goose though!

Shelley said...

Congrats on the Ring necked decks - they are beautiful! LOL at the water fowl being your nemesis! They are mine too!!

Rich said...

Great Ring Necks!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Love those ducks, Kim... You are learning so much!!!! I saw a bluebird today--and got so excited. I hope they nest in my yard again this year...

Hugs,
Betsy

Kelly said...

Beautiful Ring-necked Ducks. I saw a nice flock of them last Saturday at the Oxbow and really enjoyed watching them. I need a spotting scope to help me with the ducks...the whole "flying away when you get close" thing is such a pain! ;-)

Jayne said...

Congrats on finding the ring necks! I simply have to get my feeders back up next weekend as I know I'll also start having so many migrating visitors. :c)

troutbirder said...

Am especially enjoying your waterfowl shots. They are often a challenge to identify for all the reason you mentioned.

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the new life bird. I hope you are keeping a journal of all your newly identified birds.

Tina said...

Congrats on finding this ring neck duck! You did a nice job with the photos and I can totally understand how excited you must be to discover new birds as you visit the areas around where you live. I am in the same boat, so to speak, kind of always going to the same ole places to look for birds..but recently I have been using my maps to discover some new areas..and that is proving to be a big plus!
Would love for you to have a nesting pair of pileated wp to capture for us.. How cool would that be!!

Robin's Nesting Place said...

I've enjoyed my time this morning browsing through your blog!

Anonymous said...

Congrats on the Ring-necked Duck!

We saw 4 at Plum Island over the weekend.

Leedra said...

Ducks can be so frustrating with the distance they get from you. You did good.

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Anonymous said...

Why they don't call this the Ring-billed duck is beyoun me! Seeing the ring on the neck is tough. Good job!

Mary said...

Congrats on a lifer! I never could see the ring on these ducks. Beautiful!

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