American wigeon (Anas americana)

Continuing the roll call of winter visitors to our shores today's photo is of a pair of American wigeons (Anas americana), the female on the left and the male on the right. These are dabbling ducks like Mallards that find their food in the muck on the bottom in shallow waters close to the shore.

Bottoms Up!

The title of this post would probably have been more appropriate for New Year's Eve but this is also a typical view when dabbling ducks are nearby. This is of course how they feed, tipping themselves like this and scrabbling around on the bottom for insects, small fish and crustaceans. While I almost always post an annual photo of our most common dabbling ducks, the Mallards, I often ignore the American Wigeons pictured here. They are almost as common as the Mallards and spend the winters here quite contentedly. In the photos below the male is on the left and the female is on the right.

Wigeons

In the bottom right of yesterday's photo you can see the ducks pictured in today's photo. These are Wigeons; most are American Wigeons (Anas americana) but at the rear of the group (see the orange blaze on his head) is a Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope). Though these dabbling ducks are not uncommon winter residents here I have not seen them hanging out along the West Bay Walkway this year until now. I suspect the hard freeze may have frozen the shallow freshwater lakes and ponds they seem to like.

American Wigeon (Anas americana)

Here's another common winter resident, the American Wigeon (Anas americana) (or Widgeon if you prefer). We do see them in the summertime also but there are many more here in the winter. They are almost as ubiquitous as Mallards and share many of the same areas and habits.

American Wigeon (Male)

Ten days ago I posted a photo of a female American Wigeon (Anas americana) taken at Cattle Point. Here is the male of the species, photographed at Esquimalt Lagoon last week.

Cattle Point

I was going to post another sunrise photo today but I realized that they are a little like cupcakes - one is fine but a steady diet is a bit overwhelming. After I had glutted myself on sunrise yesterday at Willows Beach I went down to the end of the beach marked by Cattle Point. I was amazed by the variety and busy-ness of the wild life off that point. All these photos were taken within a few minutes.

Above is a female American Wigeon. There were lots of Mallards as well and a few other kinds of duck but the latter were so shy I was unable to get close enough to identify them. On the left, poking about among the rocks was a Black Oystercatcher. These birds always amuse me because they seem to be trying to be inconspicuous but those eyes and that beak are a dead giveaway. To the right, seemingly traveling in tandem, are one of our local seagulls and a Harbour Seal.

There seem to be more than the usual number of seals around lately. I see one or more pretty well every time I am down near the shoreline. Last night while on the West Bay Walkway I spent about a half an hour watching one dine off a dense school of thousands of small silvery fish that were swimming directly below the walkway.

Canada Goose (Branta canadensis)

I've posted photos of Canada Geese (Branta canadensis) before because they are large, relatively tame and attractive year round residents of this area. Their copious droppings sometimes make walking perilous on lawns where they have been grazing but stepping carefully is no doubt easier than trying to house-train these birds. Those that live here get quite tame and will tolerate fairly close approaches. The goose on the left was honking agressively the whole time I was watching him. The American Wigeons at his feet don't seem to be perturbed and I suspect the honking was intended to warn other geese away from this little island as a precursor to nesting. Both of today's photos were taken from the Westsong Walkway.

Wigeons

When I was much younger and lived in a rural area I liked to do a little bird watching from time to time. I also did a little when I lived in Africa but of late, living as I now do in an urban environment I have pretty much ignored the birds on the assumption that the most interesting ones were hiding out in distant forests. I have featured some of our more common city birds on this blog: seagulls, pigeons (Rock Doves), crows, Mallard Ducks, the Great Blue Heron, Hooded Mergansers, and recently, a House Finch. But lately my interest in birding was challenged and resuscitated when I found out that there are over 100 species of birds that can be seen in Victoria and its environs.Above (foreground) is a new acquaintance, the Eurasian Wigeon (Anas penelope). He's visiting here from much further north and spending some time with his relatives, the American Wigeons (Anas americana)(in the background above and, more clearly, pictured below). These were photographed in Beacon Hill Park a few days ago.