American Wigeon

The Wetlands have presented a different habitat, and with that, some new birds to add to my list, such as the migrating rusty blackbirds that favour wet habitats.

Another addition to that list presented itself on a dull October morning hidden among a group of mallards. 

Groups of mallards are always worth looking at in a little more detail because their numbers occasionally hide other species.

Another migratory bird. This male American wigeon was quite happy to dabble with the mallards, enjoying the advantage of safety in numbers.

The American wigeon was not as comfortable with my company as the resident mallards. I again had to make use of a tree stump to hide behind for these photos, and thankfully, the sun broke through the clouds just at the right time.

Another really overcast and dull morning in November saw two more male widgeons circling the wetlands in preparation for landing.

Both males, in turn, displaying remarkable acrobatics as they cornered.

The poor light did not enable a great deal of detail, but the grainy images do show the prominent white patch on the male American widgeon's wings that is noticeable when flying.

Snow fell in early November, lasting just long enough for a few photos.

Our summer visitors disappeared as soon as the cold weather hit us. Leaving the birds that will overwinter to deal with the snow. Song sparrows.

Black-capped chickadees.

Golden-crowned kinglets who are quite comfortable in freezing temperatures. This kinglet was feeding with a large group of kinglets, hunting for insects on a deciduous conifer, a tamarack or American spruce.

And dark-eyed juncos, who do look completely at home in the snow, to name but a few.

The surface of the wetlands froze overnight. The mallards and geese that would normally approach before landing circled overhead before moving on to look for clearer water.

The temperature then rebounded to some unusually warm weather for November, and I am not going to complain about that.

With most of the leaves now fallen, I was able to find a path to the very bottom of the wetlands and the perfect place to sit and observe the full expanse of the water. I anticipated capturing the geese and ducks in flight, but instead, was presented with the opportunity to capture the mink again.

The photos in my previous post were taken much closer and show greater detail, but these images depict more of the mink's abilities as a hunter. The mink would completely submerge, leaving a cluster of bubbles on the water's surface as the only indication of its whereabouts. It would resurface, shake off and then dive again. This time the mink came up with a fish.

Quite remarkable, and I had no idea that the mink was that good at swimming. This image is cropped in but gives a better impression of how far away I was. The mink is pictured on one of the many tiny islands that provide safe refuge to the ducks and geese.

A large fish for the mink.

And one that it wanted to take off with to eat in private.

Not forgetting that I did mention that this location was the perfect spot to capture the ducks and geese in flight.

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