The same day that I saw the Black Scoter in the previous post, I was able to watch a male Hooded Merganser catch a Crawfish (crayfish) and eat it. This was quite an action sequence, as he needed to keep moving it around to avoid getting a claw to the bill. He ended up taking it down, facing away from me, so I never really saw if he swallowed it whole or just bit pieces off. All of this was a little farther out than I would prefer, but I think enough detail comes through in the photos, especially with bad lighting for the day. Photos were taken on Saturday 1/27. Enjoy!
Behind the Milwaukee Art Museum a few weeks ago, there were 1500+ ducks! There was an excellent variety of them as well, with the water still being open. There were 11 duck species including a very cool hybrid, Common Goldeneye x Hooded Merganser. One of the species was a beautiful male Black Scoter in full breeding plumage. I had never seen one like that before, only in basic plumage. When I saw him, he was closer to the north side of Veteran’s Park. He was hanging with a smaller group of ducks diving and feeding. At one point, he was even calling and appeared to be courting a female Greater Scaup. He must have had a long Friday night! The other duck species present were, Mallard, Canvasback, Redhead, Ring-necked Duck, Greater & Lesser Scaup, White-winged Scoter, Common Goldeneye, Hooded Merganser and Red-breasted Merganser. The photos below are from Saturday 1/27. Enjoy!
I stopped by Bender Park last week and saw a few ducks in the boat launch area. I drove down close to the water and shut off my truck. I counted 3 Red-breasted Merganser, 3 Common Goldeneye, 1 Common Merganser all swimming, along with 2 Mallard sleeping on the sand bar. I have stopped here dozens of times before and I know that if you park close to the water, shut off you truck and be quiet, the ducks will come back, close to shore. On this particular day, the Common Merganser swam in, slightly off the newly formed sand bar, and started diving. After the first dive, she popped up with a something and I got my camera on her. I thought it was a fish, and I started snapping photos in a burst, so that I wouldn’t miss anything. After the sequence was done and I looked at some photos, I realized it was actually a frog she caught. I was quite surprised by this. After a few more dives, I saw her pop up with another frog! This time though, a male Red-breasted Merganser started chasing her. After about 100′ feet of scooting through the water, he got really close, and she dropped the frog. He grabbed it and enjoyed her catch. The photos below show these events happening and I tried to capture the entire sequences. However, not all photos are in focus during the event, so I picked the ones that were. The photos below were taken on 1/11 in the late afternoon. Enjoy!
Grant Park is my second favorite park along the lake. It can be excellent at times, and November happened to be one of those times. There are a couple feeders, right in the middle of the park, next to a parking lot. These feeders host the “common” feeder birds all year long. However, during migration (spring/fall) or times with inclement weather, it gets overloaded with birds. In early November, there were a couple of rare birds seen at/near the feeders. 2 Spotted Towhee (male and female) and several flocks of Red Crossbills (75+ total). The towhees were around for a few days but took off. I thought they might stay all winter, since they were in a perfect spot, with plenty of food. The Red Crossbills can probably still be seen almost daily. There is a tall group of pines on the east side of the parking lot and also about 100′ west of the parking lot, that they visit, while flying around. In addition to the rare birds, there were also a few uncommon ones, 2 Tufted Titmouse (first I’ve ever seen there), 3 Purple Finches, and 12 Pine Siskins. And of course, the numerous common feeder birds. One day it snowed, and I went down there because I thought it could be good. It was awesome! There was a solo Red Crossbill that day, that came down to the feeder four times. I had never seen them eat out of a feeder before. That day the Pine Siskins, a male Purple Finch, and both Tufted Titmouse visited numerous times as well, along with all the common ones. All of these birds make this park an extremely fun place to spend hours at a time, with a camera. Outside of the feeder parking lot, I had a beautiful male Green-winged Teal, mixed in with 75+ Mallards on Mill Pond. He was very close to the road and provided excellent views. On the 7th, I was looking for deer and stopped on the side of the road, by the 17th tee box. I was looking out into the golf course and 40 or so Snow Bunting took flight from the sand trap, near the green. They circled over the golf course and headed south. This is a large gallery post with all photos taken during the month of November, at Grant Park. Enjoy!
Yesterday afternoon, a beautiful male Mandarin Duck was photographed at South Shore Yacht Club in Bayview. I thought I would head down at sunrise today and see if it was still around. It was! This is an incredibly gorgeous bird! About 5 minutes after I arrived, all of the ducks took off and flew to the other side of the breakwall. Turns out, a Peregrine Falcon came in from the north and I didn’t see it at first, but the birds always see predators right away. Within 20 minutes, the ducks all came back and so did the Mandarin Duck. As soon as they landed, a Bald Eagle came circling in from the north. They got up, flew around but came right back. The eagle landed on the rocks of the breakwall, and never bothered the ducks. For the next couple of hours, it moved about between the water and the shore. A great morning to be out! Photos below are from today. Enjoy!
Yesterday afternoon there was a beautiful male Northern Pintail at the yacht club. He was hanging out with 50 or so Mallards and 4 American Black Ducks, near the boat launch. This was the best view of a male that I ever had. So close and really tame! If someone would walk past or drive by, he swam out a little bit, but always came right back to the shore. I just wish I would’ve had some sunlight for the photos. I sat in my truck and watched the ducks for a little over and hour. Spring migration is definitely underway, with new birds arriving daily. Pictures are from the afternoon. Enjoy!
