Nature
Notes for October 25, 2013
People
are always surprised to learn that birders go into the field throughout the
year, including the depths of winter. Although the southern Ontario Hawk
Watches will be operating for only a few more weeks and migration of small land
birds has slowed to a trickle, there are still birds to be seen.
For
Northumberland birders, the focus tends to drift toward Lake Ontario to search
for waterfowl. For many diving ducks, Lake Ontario is south.
This
is the time of year when huge flocks of Red-breasted Mergansers can sometimes
be seen. These ducks breed near large bodies of water throughout the boreal
forest. Although some winter on the Great Lakes, most of the ones seen locally
are en route to wintering grounds along the Atlantic coast and the Gulf of
Mexico.
LesserScaup frequently appear in large “rafts” of birds. These ducks nest throughout
the north and west of the continent and are migrating through to wintering
grounds in the southern U.S.- Although a few may persist throughout the winter,
the majority of the wintering scaup are Greater Scaup.
Greater
Scaup look very similar to Lesser Scaup. The males of both species have dark
heads and breasts, white sides and black tail. Lessers have a purplish sheen to
the head and Greaters are green, but observers are not often close enough to
the birds, or in good enough light conditions, to see this difference. The
females of both are brown with a white patch at the base of the bill. The white
patch is bigger in the Greater Scaup, but again this if often difficult to see.
It is easiest to tell these two species apart in flight by the extent of white
at the base of flight feathers. This is, of course, a marking that is
impossible to see on a sleeping bird in windy conditions. Frequently, I just
identify them as “scaup” without trying to differentiate the two species.
A
few Black Scoters have been spotted in recent days. These ducks breed in the northern
Quebec and Labrador. Some also breed in Nunavut and central Alaska. The ones seen on Lake Ontario are passing
through to wintering areas on the Atlantic coast.
Long-tailedDucks breed throughout the Arctic as far north as Ellesmere Island. In winter
on Lake Ontario, we see them in a plumage which is primarily black and white.
In the breeding season, they are mostly brown. The male has long tail feathers,
which gives this species its name.
I
haven’t yet seen any Common Goldeneye or Bufflehead, two other common wintering
ducks on Lake Ontario. Like many other wintering ducks, they are primarily
black and white. These two species breed primarily in the boreal forest, where
they nest in tree cavities. Numbers of these two ducks will arrive on Lake
Ontario in the next few weeks to spend the winter here.
Along
with these more common species, a single female plumaged Harlequin Duck was
spotted off Lake St., Port Hope on October 14. This species favours forested
mountain streams in the summer. The eastern population breeds in Labrador, the
Ungava Peninsula of Quebec and southern Greenland. When it comes to the Great
Lakes, it can often be found quite close to shore, foraging for mollusks amongst
the rocks of habour jetties.
Probably
by the time this column appears in print, many of the ducks mentioned will have
arrived on Northumberland’s section of Lake Ontario. Perhaps readers will have
the opportunity to look for them.
