It has been hard to go out and get pics lately. I have been trying to put in as much time at The Raptor Center as possible while still maintaining my full work schedule and many of the days when I have had time the weather has not been very cooperative.
I was able to get out for a bit last Thursday and Friday, after work and training, and I was hoping that I would spot my first warblers of the year. I was able to spend a few hours birding at the old Cedar Avenue Bridge area on Friday but unfortunately I did not find any warblers. I did find this very cooperative blue-winged teal however.
These ducks are fairly common through out most of the northern portions of North America during the summer. They are usually found in shallow ponds and wetlands where they forage for aquatic plants seeds and invertebrates by dabbling. Dabbling is when the duck keeps most of its body on the surface of the water but lowers its head under the water to look for food. Seeing blue-winged teal is actually not a great sign if you are a birder in the Twin Cities this year. Blue-winged teal are one of the last ducks to migrate in the spring which means that if they are around then the waterfowl migration is pretty much over. This is very unfortunate since there really was not much of a waterfowl migration to speak of this year.
I was able to get out for a bit last Thursday and Friday, after work and training, and I was hoping that I would spot my first warblers of the year. I was able to spend a few hours birding at the old Cedar Avenue Bridge area on Friday but unfortunately I did not find any warblers. I did find this very cooperative blue-winged teal however.
These ducks are fairly common through out most of the northern portions of North America during the summer. They are usually found in shallow ponds and wetlands where they forage for aquatic plants seeds and invertebrates by dabbling. Dabbling is when the duck keeps most of its body on the surface of the water but lowers its head under the water to look for food. Seeing blue-winged teal is actually not a great sign if you are a birder in the Twin Cities this year. Blue-winged teal are one of the last ducks to migrate in the spring which means that if they are around then the waterfowl migration is pretty much over. This is very unfortunate since there really was not much of a waterfowl migration to speak of this year.
8 comments:
The Teal shots are excellent, the new camera I presume.
Did it warm up there rapidly to force the migrators northward?
What a nice little blue-winged teal. Good photography. Interesting bit about birding too.
Seems you like birds so much. My favorite are parrots which I have when I was a kid.
Hi,
These are very neat shots, I love the reflection on the water. Some individuals are occasionally found in Iceland and there is one of them now in the North of the country. Passerine birds have arrived here, with some rare one, like the arctic redpoll and the chaffinch!!
i love the ducks swimming around, so pretty.
Another extremely cute bird! Very beautiful with the reflection.
love your photos
great shadows in the water
Very nice. I rarely see anything outside of the ordinary duck. Everyone once in a while something surprises me. :-)
Post a Comment