Reflections

I'm very fond of these ducks (Hooded Mergansers) but for me the best part of this photo is the reflections on the water. This is from January 4 years ago.

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

Here are a couple of my favorite winter residents, male (above) and female (below) Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus). These are diving ducks, constantly disappearing below the surface in search of the small fish and other aquatic life they eat. Like Wood Ducks, they nest up in the hollow trunks of trees. It would be a treat to see the ducklings emerge after hatching.

Winter Visitors

My favorite seasons are spring and summer so in autumn and winter I have to make special efforts to find things I like. Autumn brings all those strange mushrooms and other fungi and by the time winter settles in we have quite a differently composed bird population, particularly along the shore of the Inner Harbour. Here's one of my favorite winter visitors in a little bay off the West Song Walkway, a Hooded Merganser drake. We'll have a closer look at him and some other winter visitors in the next few days.

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.

Dance-Off!

I am pleased to present a pair of my favorite little diving ducks doing their mating dance. Two male Hooded Mergansers here are competing for the favors of a single rather bored looking female. The dance consists of extending the neck to its maximum length and jerking the head back and forth in an attractive fashion.

Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I was happy to note the arrival of some of my favorite little diving ducks, the Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) pictured above. The first pair showed up about ten days ago and others have arrived since. Above are three males. The white on their heads will develop into a upstanding crest that signals the beginning of the mating season.

Ripples

Here's one of my favourite birds, the Hooded Merganser, but what I like most about this photo is the wonderful patterns on the water.

Hooded Mergansers

Another aspect of Victoria's wildlife (in addition to fungi, mosses and lichens) that also burgeons in the fall and winter is the bird life to be found along the shores. There are quite a number of species we see nothing of in the spring and summer but who return in the fall and spend the winter here. Pictured above are some Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus). I am always pleased to see these lovely little ducks arrive and they have been very numerous lately near the West Bay Walkway.

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I mentioned yesterday the return of one of my favorite ducks, the Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus). Above on the left is the female of the species with the male on the right. Females and young first-winter birds of both genders look very similar so I could be wrong. I was very happy to see a small flock (6) of these birds fairly close inshore yesterday since they have been fishing and flirting much further out since their arrival. However, as can be seen below, they weren't cooperating with the photographer otherwise. All of them were catching up on their sleep and it was a long wait before they perked up and took their heads out of their feathers.

Female Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I've mentioned before that Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) are one of my favourite ducks and I've posted several photos of the male of the species because his dramatic coloration makes him easy to identify. The female of the species is not so strikingly attired and since these Hooded Mergansers are often in company with other ducks whose females are also camouflaged I am always a little reluctant to post photos of the females of the species for fear of wrong identification. In general I believe the drabber, browner based plumage of females makes them less visible when on the nest, providing a distinct adaptive benefit. Above is a female Hooded Merganser, the mate of the male Hooded Merganser to the left.

Hooded Merganser (Lophodytes cucullatus)

I was pleased to see some Hooded Mergansers (Lophodytes cucullatus) yesterday when out on my walk. Above are a pair of males. These beautiful little diving ducks re-ignited my enthusiasm for bird-watching nearly two years ago when I first saw them in the midst of a long gray December. I think they must nest further north and fly south to winter around here since I generally see them during the winter months.

Ducklike Object Surprises Grumpy Blogger

I was grumping along today under these unremitting gray skies doing the "been there, done that" litany with occasional riffs of "same old, same old" and dropped down below the Westsong Walkway to see if could photograph some grass (I'm that desperate for green) and not the kind of grass you smoke but the kind you walk on. I was envisioning grass and rocks and ocean combined in a simple yet unique and profound shot that would somehow express the exact opposite of the boredom and mild despair creeping over me. The little plot of bright green I'd seen from a distance proved on closer examination to have recently been grazed by a flock of Canada Geese whose thickly scattered droppings caused a brief fit of cynical nodding and muttered curses. While scraping my shoes off with a handy bit of driftwood I heard a cascade of splashy plops along with some low grunting quack-like noises, and looked up to see a small flock of Hooded Mergansers dropping into the small bay just in front of me, looking as if they were just minted, fresh-made, so crisp and clean. I've never seen a Hooded Merganser before and I hope you enjoy the one above as much as I did.