Saturday, March 09, 2013

Birds on the Move

 
Finally, after a dull drab winter, the bright colors of brilliantly marked waterfowl again grace our local waters. 

 
Spending the early morning in a pop-up blind along a wetland I observed Canada geese, mallards and wood ducks. 

 
Male Red-winged Blackbirds were busy singing their lusty territorial song as they lay claim the their preferred nesting areas.  I spotted Red-wings for the first time this year on Monday.  Today was my first sighting of Wood Ducks.
 

 
I was unable to reach the Meadow Grounds Lake by car this morning because of the snow remaining from Wednesdays storm; however from the top of the mountain I could both see and hear a flock of Tundra Swans on the lake. Returning with the truck close to mid day I found that the swans had moved on with only this mixed flock of ducks remaining. The flock seen here contained 3 male Red-heads, one male Red-breasted Merganser, and one male Common Golden-eye. Last weekend I observed Hooded Mergansers, Lesser Scaup, and Ring-necked ducks here.

I still find it hard to believe that soon this vibrant wildlife community will be gone. Even now the level is dropping as the first of the stop logs were removed from the dam this past week.
 
The mission of the Fish and Boat Commission is to protect, conserve, and enhance the Commonwealth’s aquatic resources and provide fishing and boating opportunities.
 
With lakes drawn down or drained all over the state, fish hatcheries scheduled to close, and boat ramp maintenance everywhere put on hold it seems to me that the time has come for either the PFBC to rewrite their mission statement or begin to step up to the plate.
 
 
 
 
 
 

6 comments:

Ruth Hiebert said...

Seeing this Wood Duck and the Red-winged Blackbird,makes me just long all the more for spring.

Montanagirl said...

LOVE those colorful Wood Duck photos. They are just so pretty with their multi-coloring.

Anonymous said...

I love to hear the Red-winged Blackbird! The Wood Duck is beautiful - love the reflection.

Unknown said...

Nice ducks! I am also sad that the PFBC is missing their mark! The windfall money teh state is getting from gas should be directed at keeping our resources in tip top shape.

Elaine said...

Wonderful Wood Duck shots! I just looked at your Middle Creek photos of the Snow Geese. Absolutely fabulous shots. We'll see some here on their way north, but never the large numbers you get there. I've seen them in the winter in the Skagit Valley in Washington where they overwinter, and it's exciting to see large flocks, but I haven't seen any near as large as you did. My son called me a few weeks ago while they were sitting beside one of the fields with a large flock so that I could hear them. Fun, but not quite the same as being there....

Lindsjö taxar said...

Lovely ducks with beautiful colour, great reflections...
We got some snow yesterday and also very cold this morning -18 C our spring is waiting