This Just In

We have a couple new birds that we have added to our life list. The first was spotted this past Sunday on the Maumee River in Grand Rapids Ohio. It was a Red-breasted Merganser. This was a good catch by JoAnna because the snow was flying which made visibility difficult and the Red-breasted Merganser can be difficult to distinguish between a Female Common Merganser. Below is the picture I managed to get after JoAnna pointed him out. For more information on the birds we have seen click here. 

With the winter freeze in full force and the Great Lakes nearing 90% ice cover water fowl are left searching for open water. In Grand Rapids, Ohio we have the benefit of a dam. The dam keeps water moving and makes it more difficult for the water to freeze. Most water fowl do not move south to keep warm rather they find open water to stay warm! Open water is where they find the food they eat as well as the protection they need.

As I am writing this many different species of water fowl can be found in Grand Rapids. There are Tundra Swans, Canadian Geese, Mallards, Common Goldeneyes, Common Mergansers, Redheads, Canvasbacks, the Greater Scaup, Ring-necked Ducks, and Red-breasted Mergansers, not to mention a few species of gulls. The newest water fowl member to enter the Maumee River however is the American Wigeon. The picture that I got was not that greatest, however it gave us enough detail to identify the duck. This duck is brownish with little spots of white. It has a tan crown with a green ear patch. These features can be seen in the picture I have attached below.   

  

Another bird we recognized back on the banks of the Maumee was the Carolina Wren. This bird was carrying on in a thicket of small branches. Their song is more of a tweedle-tweedle-tweedle-tweedle repeated over and over again. While they are singing they bounce around in circles on their perch. This was not a new bird for us but after a long hard winter they can be a very pleasant sound to hear.

The two new ducks make number 87 and 88 on our life list.

Happy Birding!