DUCK, DUCK, GOOSE!! A trip around the Wildlife Drive will give you plenty of both.
When the eagles are not swooping around over the water, some puddle ducks (Northern Pintails, Northern Shovelers, American Wigeon, Mallards, Gadwall and Green-winged Teal) and Canada Geese can be seen very close to the drive. The divers, (Redheads, Ring-necked, Scaup and Ruddy Ducks) are much further out away from the drive where the water is deeper.
We didn’t see any Canvasbacks today. However, we did see our first Tundra Swans on the Main Pool. We studied them for a very long time, because they can keep their heads under water forever!! Eventually we saw a little bit of yellow on the lores!
There were large rafts of American Coots mixing in with the ducks a good distance out and also near the Seneca Spillway. The one Common Gallinule was seen just past the Spillway in the channel near the photo blind parking area. It was able to be seen from the Wildlife Drive. There were still dozens of adorable Pied-billed Grebes on the Main Pool and a few in Seneca Flats as well.
I am including a picture of an adult Bald Eagle near the new, Spillway nest. There was another adult swooping around the northern end of the open water (moving the ducks away from the Drive, of course) that eventually landed on a muskrat mound out near the cattails. I did not see any adults at or near the Maple Island nest today. I am also including a photo of some Long-billed Dowitchers that we saw in the Visitors’ Center Pool this morning. They were in the Southern end of the pool and could be seen from the entrance road.
Stay safe and warm,
Jackie 🙂
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