The Nerdy Birders had a very big week. Mrs. Nerdy Birder had her 31st birthday and in addition we added 5 more birds to our life list and had some unforgettable experiences. Unfortunately we also came to the realization that we had miss-marked a bird that we had previously seen and had to remove it from our life list.
For the past month or so I have noticed a bird on the side of the road on my way to work that looks like the typical sparrows we see in this area. However, there was something different about this bird. On Wednesday I decided that I had enough and I was going to bring my camera with me and determine what it was. It took me some time to get a picture of it, but once I did my first thought was that it was a lark of some sort. When I got home I confirmed my suspicions and added the Horned Lark to our life list.
The Maumee River in Grand Rapids Ohio is a great place to see birds in winter. There is a dam slightly up river from the village which means that the water rarely completely freezes over. This means a large number of birds that rely on open water for food and protection will gather here and stay for extended periods of time. We typically see great blue herons, a number of different gulls, ducks, and bald eagles. On Monday JoAnna was able to capture a picture of a adolescent Bald Eagle eating a fish on a frozen section of ice on the river (see picture below). Until today however the ducks we have seen were either Mallards or the Wood-duck.
After celebrating Mrs. Nerdybirdy's birthday on Friday we started Saturday kind of "foggy." However, we had spotted some very promising waterfowl in the river near our house the day before so we grabbed our supplies and headed out in the cruel light of the day. When we arrived at the river we quickly realized that the ducks in the water were not the typical mallards commonly seen in this area.
We were sitting in the car on the edge of the river taking pictures of what we determined later to be Redhead ducks. We had never heard of this duck so we were obviously ecstatic.
We moved over the bridge to get a closer look but when we did the flock took off and flew further down river. We went back home and posted our sitting on NatureShare. Later we ordered some food and JoAnna went and picked it up. When she returned she said that the ducks were back on the river but there may be some new ones. We jumped back in the car and raced down to the river. This time we spotted the Redheads, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Mallards, Greater Scaups (new and pictured below), and a Canvasback (new and pictured below).
While I was taking pictures of the Common Mergansers we noticed what we thought was red-breasted merganser in the mix. When we reviewed the pictures we determined that it was a female Common Merganser. We went back and researched the pictures from 1/2/15 in Michigan and determined that what we captured was not a Red-breasted Merganser, but rather a female Common Merganser. Minus 1 from our life list. The female Common Merganser is the first duck pictured on the left.
This brings us to Sunday. We got up and headed back to the river. We really did not expect to see anything new but rather thought we would go down and get some better pictures. As we took pictures and looked around we noticed one of the ducks had a white ring around it's bill. It was a Ring-necked Duck (new to us and pictured below).
Lastly I believe that we spotted an american black duck. Unfortunately it was a long distance away and the lighting was poor. We cannot count this bird but the picture is below.
Our combined life list is at 83.
Happy Birding!
For the past month or so I have noticed a bird on the side of the road on my way to work that looks like the typical sparrows we see in this area. However, there was something different about this bird. On Wednesday I decided that I had enough and I was going to bring my camera with me and determine what it was. It took me some time to get a picture of it, but once I did my first thought was that it was a lark of some sort. When I got home I confirmed my suspicions and added the Horned Lark to our life list.
After celebrating Mrs. Nerdybirdy's birthday on Friday we started Saturday kind of "foggy." However, we had spotted some very promising waterfowl in the river near our house the day before so we grabbed our supplies and headed out in the cruel light of the day. When we arrived at the river we quickly realized that the ducks in the water were not the typical mallards commonly seen in this area.
We were sitting in the car on the edge of the river taking pictures of what we determined later to be Redhead ducks. We had never heard of this duck so we were obviously ecstatic.
We moved over the bridge to get a closer look but when we did the flock took off and flew further down river. We went back home and posted our sitting on NatureShare. Later we ordered some food and JoAnna went and picked it up. When she returned she said that the ducks were back on the river but there may be some new ones. We jumped back in the car and raced down to the river. This time we spotted the Redheads, Common Mergansers, Common Goldeneyes, Mallards, Greater Scaups (new and pictured below), and a Canvasback (new and pictured below).
While I was taking pictures of the Common Mergansers we noticed what we thought was red-breasted merganser in the mix. When we reviewed the pictures we determined that it was a female Common Merganser. We went back and researched the pictures from 1/2/15 in Michigan and determined that what we captured was not a Red-breasted Merganser, but rather a female Common Merganser. Minus 1 from our life list. The female Common Merganser is the first duck pictured on the left.
This brings us to Sunday. We got up and headed back to the river. We really did not expect to see anything new but rather thought we would go down and get some better pictures. As we took pictures and looked around we noticed one of the ducks had a white ring around it's bill. It was a Ring-necked Duck (new to us and pictured below).
Lastly I believe that we spotted an american black duck. Unfortunately it was a long distance away and the lighting was poor. We cannot count this bird but the picture is below.
Our combined life list is at 83.
Happy Birding!
Here I go trying to post again. Great reading and writing, Levi! Love the "What the Duck!" Been trying to get to the river to see for myself. Just read in the Audubon magazine they have been sighting Pileateds around Ft. Myers Beach in Florida. Can you believe that?! Wow!
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