Long-tailed Ducks at Ashbridge’s Bay / November 25, 2019

Long-tailed Ducks, who spend the summer in the Arctic, are found in the Great Lakes region and along much of the Atlantic coast in winter. Today we saw a few that still show the brownish summer plumage.

Long-tailed Duck (female)

We had many today on this 6 degree, overcast morning:

Long-tailed Ducks
Long-tailed Duck (male)
Long-tailed Ducks (male)
Long-tailed Ducks (female)
Long-tailed Ducks (female)
Long-tailed Duck (female)

Species list: mute swan, Canada goose, mallard, American black duck, gadwall, common goldeneye, bufflehead, long-tailed duck, red-breasted merganser, herring gull, ring-billed gull, blue jay, black-capped chickadee, brown creeper, golden-crowned kinglet.  (15 species)

Mute Swans
Canada Geese
Black-capped Chickadee
Brown Creeper
Brown Creeper
Black-capped Chickadee
Herring Gull
Buffleheads
Mallards and “Bib” Duck
Red-breasted Merganser
Red-breasted Merganser

Some botany:

Rye (Secale cereale)
Austrian Pine (seed cones)
Austrian Pine (pollen cones)
White Sweet-clover (Melilotus albus)
Mullein (Verbascum thapsus)
Canada Goldenrod (Solidago canadensis)
Panicled Aster (Symphyotrichum lanceolatum)

Park scenes:

Grey Squirrel
Black Squirrel

Today’s group:

NATURE POETRY

Shorter and shorter now the twilight clips
The days, as though the sunset gates they crowd.       – Alice Cary (1820–71)

Miles Hearn

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