Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Bye Bye Bufflehead

Bufflehead are small diving sea ducks that I usually see a couple of times during the midst of the winter. The name Bufflehead comes from the combination of the words buffalo and head. _ __ ____________________________________________________________There were several male and female Bufflehead on the Connecticut River near Deep River landing on Sunday. Usually when I see them from a distance the Male's head looks black and white. This one particular male came close enough that I was able to see that the dark portion of their head is surprisingly iridescent. I was interested to learn (from Cornell) that they nest almost exclusively in tree holes that were excavated by Northern Flickers. These ducks are a lot of fun to watch because they are very active. They do a lot of diving, grooming and displaying. Many spring migrants will soon be arriving but these might have been the last Buffleheads I'll see before next winter. Bye Bye Buffleheads - until we meet again! Until then, there should be plenty of other ducks to see like these Wood Ducks that were swimming in a flooded stream near the Chester-Hadlyme Ferry.

8 comments:

dguzman said...

Our little Duck Pond is seeing fewer and fewer migrating ducks as the days pass, and I am a little sad about it. It's been a great winter here for ducks.

Ruth said...

Buffleheads are a dime and dozen here in the winter, but I would LOVE to see a group of Wood Ducks like that.

Chris said...

Hi Larry,
You are seeing plenty of wonderful ducks in your are. I've seen none of these two guys and would love to see them. Even if I love harlequin ducks, I thing we do not have that much of beautiful ducks species around...

Larry said...

dguzman-Fear not-they shall return.

Ruth-I'll trade you 4 Wood Ducks for a dozen Bufflehead.

Chris-I've only seen one Harlequin although I nkow that they can be seen in neighboring Rhode Island at the right time of year.

FAB said...

Never seen a wild Bufflehead but I do have the Wood Ducks close couzin, the Mandarin on my local patch.

Dawn Fine said...

Very cool shot of the bufflehead...the one that looks like a flower.. :)

Kathie Brown said...

I saw my frist Wood ducks of the year here at the bog yesterday. My photos are not as good as yours are but I was just thrilled to see them! Saw Eastern phoebes too!

Larry said...

Frank-Nice to know that the Wood Ducks have relatives overseas in case they need a place to stay while on vacation.

Dawn-thanks-A Bufflehead Begonia would be an interesting flower to have in the garden.

Kathiebirds-Glad to hear you are having some interesting bird sightings out your way!