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Friday, November 21, 2014

Winter Visitors

I've been walking on the West Bay Walkway again recently and have been happy to see some of our winter visitors back from their northern travels. Pictured today are my favorite diving ducks, a trio of male Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus). On the same walk I saw some Common Mergansers and large flocks of Bufflehead Ducks like those in yesterday's photo. These are birds we don't see at all in the summertime because they migrate further north to nest and rear their young. As winter sets in they fly south and many stop here to brighten our shores until spring.

5 comments:

JoJo said...

Where do they live in summer? Northern BC/Alaska?

Benjamin Madison said...

Hi JoJo - Nobody really knows where they go in summer - but most that winter here probably don't travel very far north - no further than Southern Alaska. Many probably just move inland and slightly north in summer since they seem to prefer fresh water to salt. Here's a link to a good information site that discusses what is known about their migratory patterns: Click Here

Mike Laplante said...

Up to know I've always classified most birds I see on the water as 'ducks' -- sometimes 'swan' or 'geese'.

Thanks to your blog I'm actually starting to recognize birds by their names...

William Kendall said...

They're quite a trio!

Stephanie said...

Now I know what these are. Saw some in the Estuary today. Nice shot!