Hi,
This past weekend marked two important events at UOSA in Fairfax county.
As reported across Fairfax county and adjoining counties, UOSA too was host to
a lot of ducks. Over the weekend I saw:
Redhead
Ring-necked Duck
Gadwall
Mallard
Blue-Winged Teal
Bufflehead
Common Goldeneye
Pied-Billed Grebe
Lesser/Greater Scaup
American Wigeon
Wood Duck
Northern Shoveler
Hooded Merganser
Common Merganser
Additionally other birders reported seeing:
Canvasback
American Black Duck
That is over 15 species of ducks! Some ducks were very obliging and were seen
right in the part of the pond near the first parking lot.
Here is the eBird URL for UOSA https://ebird.org/hotspot/L277556
I noticed and photographed a female duck over the weekend which was an
identification challenge to me. This duck could either be a female Redhead or a
female Ring-necked duck.
Over the weekend, as I read more and got better photographs, I was left with
the strong feeling that this is a female Ring-necked duck. A collage of some of
my photos is here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/deapesh/46263251964/
According to "Birds of North America" (BNA) Ring-necked duck in comparison to
Redhead is smaller in size, has a peaked, angular head profile and has a pale
region on front of face. Elsewhere I read that the presence of a strong
eye-ring indicates that the bird in question is a female Ring-necked duck and
not a female Redhead.
I would love to hear your comments and thoughts about it.
(this female duck usually swims in the area of the pond right next to the first
parking lot, if you want to go have a look)
The other event of interest was the singing by birds - there was so much music
in the air! It seemed as if a switch had turned on among the birds this past
weekend !
The Cardinals were singing, Golden-crowned kinglets were incessantly singing
(and helping me with song identification), Red-winged blackbird was singing,
Song Sparrows were singing long songs, Mourning Doves were cooing, Finches were
singing and there was music everywhere!
I wonder if other birders in Fairfax and adjoining counties also noticed the
change in bird behavior with respect to songs. Perhaps the so-to-say "switch"
actually switched "on", on a weekday and I happened to notice it this past
weekend? Or has there been a gradual increase in the volume of bird songs in
the past few weeks?
cheers,
Deapesh.
